Hidden Nobody: You Make Me Feel Real
by The Invisible Sky Wizard
Summary: Submitted with a new title! OC character, violence, swearing, boy/boy love, you know the deal. Rated 'M! Rate & Review!
1. The Amnesiatic Spy Arrives!

**Part 1 of 3**

A/N: I had this story out before, but it was utter crap. Literally my worst effort. So I'm re-submitting it with more detail, more content, and more…well, let's just say, the fangirls will like it. Rated 'M' for yaoi in later chapters. (No flaming! If you don't like it, don't read it.)

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine, but the stuff I added that doesn't belong is.

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Footsteps broke the silence in the deep of the castle, steady footsteps wandering down the deserted hall. The hem of his red coat shifted around his ankles, the hood drawn up over his face, obscuring it in darkness. The quiet was eerie. Even though there were so few of them, there was usually at least SOME sign of life. Number II was usually the cause of the mayhem.

The small, lithe figure turned a corner, and stopped dead in his tracks, the papers held in a gloved hand nearly slipping from his grip. Not ten feet away stood a tall, broad-shouldered figure shrouded in a black coat, the hood drawn up as well. But the red-coated figure had no trouble telling who this was. The enveloping aura of power around the one in the black coat sent a shiver up his spine. Number I of Organization XIII…The Superior.

"Uh…." It came in a gasp; all that the smaller of the two could manage to get out. The taller figure inclined his head slightly, a deep voice issuing from out of his hood. "Number XIV, it's time." The smaller one in the red coat, this Number XIV, took a small step back, shaking his head. "No, please…I-I'm not ready." The taller figure stepped forward with a short, cold laugh, raising a black-gloved hand. "Ready or not, you will do the task given to you."

As the smaller of the two turned to run, the taller male took a sudden lunge forward, appearing in a fraction of a second right behind the smaller, and delivered a swift blow to the back of his neck. The smaller male gave a small gasp of pain, and everything went black as his limp body hit the floor with a soft 'thud'….

"Hey. Are you OK?" With a groan, he opened his eyes. A blurred world full of painful light made him shield his eyes, as his other hand was grabbed, with two more under his arms as he was gently lifted to his feet. "Are you?" He heard the voice again, young, perhaps mid-teens, and rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. But it stayed resolutely blurred. He felt a tapping at his hand, and a pair of glasses was pressed to his palm. He wore glasses? Unfolding them, he slid the glasses on, and everything came into focus. The first thing he saw was the face of a young male with blue eyes and wild brown hair looking him in the face.

He took a small step back in alarm, as two more figures joined the boy. One was a small white duck, with blue magician-like clothes, a scepter with a book on the top, and a ticked-off expression. The other was a large, goofy-looking black dog in knight's clothing, holding a silver shield with three dark blue circles on the front. Looking down at his own body, he could see he was wearing an ankle-length dark red trench coat, with light blue strings for the hood, and dark red gloves and boots. His body was slim, almost hour-glass, and from what he could tell of measuring people with buildings, he realized that he was very short, about half-a-head shorter than the wild-haired boy.

The smiling teenager wore a purple sleeveless under a black hoodie that stopped below his ribcage, with a zipper and short sleeves, along with black shorts with yellow straps holding a red pouch on each leg, and large silver and yellow boots. Around his neck was a thick chain holding a symbol of a crown. He took a step forward, pointing first to himself, then the dog, and then to the duck. "I'm Sora. This is Goofy, and Donald." The dog gave a wave, and the duck merely blinked at him. "What's your name?"

"I'm, um…!" That's strange…I can't seem to remember my name. Who am I? He scratched his head a bit, while the boy looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression. "It's strange…I can't remember, heh heh." The boy, Sora, rubbed his chin. "Hmm…maybe you have amnesia?" ! That must be it! I have amnesia! Which would explain why I can't remember how I got here, or who I am. "I think your right," said the red-coated boy. Suddenly he felt a small pressure in his head that faded almost instantly. "For some reason, though, I want to say 'Kane'." The name had just popped into his head. "Kane, huh," replied Sora, "Well, OK Kane, it's nice to meet you. Where are you from?" Kane shrugged. "Er…I can't remember that either, heh. Sorry."

"Aww, don't apologize. So, do you live in Twilight Town," asked Sora. "Twilight Town?" The small boy, Kane, took his attention from the others for a second to look at his surroundings. He was in a town, as he gathered from the name, but there weren't many people around. There was a train or something running on tracks, but the only others around were Sora, Donald, and Goofy. He turned back to the other three, and shrugged. "I don't know. I can't remember anything." Sora crossed his arms over his chest. "Hmm…" The boy, Sora, turned to his friends.

"What do you guys think?"

"I say we leave him and continue chasing the Organization," said Donald. "Well, I think we should help him out," replied Goofy. Then the two got into an argument.

"Leave him!"

"Help him!"

"Leave him!

"Help him!"

"Hold on!"

Sora put himself between the fighting friends, looking at each one. "It's too dangerous for him here. Nobodies or Heartless could pop up any time!" Nobodies? Heartless? What is he talking about? And what 'Organization'? Sora turned to Kane, as the other two decided to drop the argument. "Do you want to come with us for awhile, until you get your memory back?" With a nod, Kane said, "Sure, but what are you guys up to?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story, but I can try to shorten it. There is a group of people called Organization Thirteen, extremely powerful Nobodies-"

"But what _are_ Nobodies," interrupted Kane.

"Nobodies are the husks of people left behind when darkness enters their heart and turns them into a Heartless. Nobodies can't feel, but they pretend to," Goofy answered.

"OK, but what's a Heartless?" Donald stepped forward.

"A Heartless is what a person becomes when they let darkness enter their heart. Most become shadow creatures, mindless with only one thought: to steal as many hearts as they can. But people with a strong heart keep their bodies, but lose their hearts. They have the same goal, but they can think and plan for themselves. A strong Heartless can control the weaker ones."

"And when a person becomes a Heartless, they leave behind a Nobody as well?"

"Right," said Sora, "But the Nobodies look slightly different than their original selves. There are also weird Nobodies that don't have human shapes." "Like the Heartless," guessed Kane. Sora gave a nod.

"But what does the Organization want?"

"Well," said Goofy, "The Nobodies of the Organization have a leader, and they serve him, we think. He wants us to destroy as many Heartless as it takes to create this strong power called Kingdom Hearts. Anybody who controls it can control all the worlds. But they think they can use it to regain human hearts and become whole."

"They're wrong," said Sora, "Once their hearts are gone, that's it. Kingdom Hearts can't help them, but we have to stop them."

Organization 13 is a group of powerful beings called Nobodies that want to regain human hearts. They have no emotions, but they pretend that they do. Sounds bad, but I've never heard of them, as far as I know.. "So, you three are chasing the Organization," asked Kane. "Right," Sora answered, "We're looking for one in particular. His name is Axel. He says he hates schemers, but he seems to do a bit of scheming himself. He kidnapped our friend, and keeps leaving weird hints and clues for us. He has a black coat, kind of like the one you're wearing, and wild, spiky red hair. He has two round, flaming weapons, and kind of looks like a girl."

"Sorry, haven't seen him."

His name is Axel, and he's a girly Nobody. Hmm? What's this? Kane felt a small protrusion in his pocket, and took out a small book.

"What's that," asked Sora.

"I think it's a journal." Kane opened it, but noticed that several pages in the front were ripped out. He frowned, and noticed a pen in the spiraled metal holding the pages together.

"Someone's ripped the pages out."

"Hey," said Sora, "There's something on the front." Kane shut the journal and checked the cover. "It says, 'Xaken's Journal'."

"Xaken? Weird name." The dog nudged Sora, and whispered into his ear, but Sora shook his head. "I don't think so." He turned to Kane. "How do you think you got it?" Kane slid the pen from the spiraled metal, and opened the journal. "I'm not sure. It doesn't seem familiar. But maybe I could borrow it for now." He started to write everything he'd learned to far, and realized that he could write fast, and his spelling was really good. Sora gave a shrug. "I don't see why not. So, do you want to come with us?" Kane gave a nod, and slid the journal back in his pocket.

"Yeah. Where are we going?" Donald gave a snort. "We're going to take the Gummi Ship to Halloweentown." Kane scratched his head. "Halloweentown? Strange na-" With a sudden rumble, Kane noticed that, where there was previously nobody around, they were suddenly surrounded by strange, stretchy gray creature with mouths lined with zippers, and no eyes or fingers. The other three surrounded Kane, Goofy and Donald's weapons readied. But Sora's weapon surprised him the most. With a flash of light, he was suddenly holding a gold-handed, silver metal weapon shaped like a key. "Dusks! Stay back, we'll handle this."

As the fight started, Kane could already tell, without knowing quite how, that even though the three were very good, there were just too many of the gray creatures, which he took to be the Nobodies. Two of the Dusks moved in front of Sora, with wild, confusing attacks that they pulled off by stretching their bodies. Sora parried a kick to the left of his stomach by chopping down with the blunt part of his Keyblade and knocking the foot to the floor, then blocked an elbow to the face by hauling his arm back and stopping the attack with his own elbow. He foiled another attack by the first Dusk by locking it's oncoming arm to his own, putting himself back on his heels, and spinning, using his weight to pull the first Dusk into the path of the second, who promptly and accidentally put it's foot through the first one's stomach. Sora raised his Keyblade and chopped down into the second Dusks' head, then threw the one he held to the floor and repeated the move with both arms.

Donald and Goofy were staying in close proximity to each other to form a double-team attack strategy. The edge of Goofy's shield was razor-sharp, so he used it to slice open any Dusks that got close enough. If they were too close, like the unfortunate one next to him, he would shield-smash the thing. He raised his fist and bashed the Dusk in the face, hooked his leg around the Dusk's, shoulder-rammed it to the ground, and hopped into the air, sitting in the groove of his shield and crushing the Dusk. Any time a Dusk got near Donald when he was preoccupied, he would simply hurl his shield, which spun towards its intended target, slashing deep wounds or cutting the Nobody in half, and returning to his waiting hand.

Donald was waving his scepter almost non-stop, reciting any spell that he could think of at the moment. From the tip of his scepter or the air around him, blasts of fire, jets of icy wind and bolts of lightning struck down the Nobodies around him. He waved his wand and tossed one into the air, and see Goofy's shield come whizzing in with deadly intent. Or increase the field of gravity around one Dusk and crush it to death. When a Dusk came too close to Goofy, ready to get him in the back, Donald shot a beam of pure energy from his scepter and fried it where it stood.

Sora swung, lunged, parried, countered, and slashed his Keyblade at every Dusk he could see. Wounds were gashed into a body, or bruises quickly formed over a repeatedly pummeled spot. He even kicked one of them. But no matter how many they killed, more and more seemed to join the fight, eager to throw themselves at the three fighters. They could not figure out where they were all coming from. Soon, Sora found himself defending against a host of Nobodies, and one of them slipped around his guard, aiming right for Kane, standing unharmed in the middle of the fight.

The Nobody stopped directly in front of Kane, the zipper over it's wide mouth moving by itself. When it reached the end, the mouth opened wide in a high-pitched shriek. Kane covered his ears against the noise, Sora, Donald and Goofy looked around, and every Dusk stopped in mid-battle. They stood, swaying, watching Kane. Sora, Donald and Goofy seemed to be frozen; they weren't moving. The Nobody who shrieked looked right at Kane, and though it's mouth didn't move, it spoke. It was more in Kane's head than audible. A strange un-voice that was there but not, tangible but brittle, echoed through his mind. "Lord Xaken, the critical point is now. There might be no other chances. Regain your memory." Kane took a step back, looking around. "Lord who? I…I don't know what you're talking about." The Dusks suddenly twitched, as if agitated. The un-voice sounded again. "That…is unfortunate. Kill our Brother! Kill him!"

Time swung back into full flow as the Nobodies took their attention from the three fighters, and focused solely on Kane. Our Brother? What did it mean by that? Ducking to avoid a sweeping hand, he straightened up, but then spun to the left as a Dusk rushed at him from the right. He knew that he was in danger now, as Sora, Donald and Goofy were trying and failing to get to him through the thick crowd of Nobodies. He felt a strange warmth in his hands, and looked down to find a pair of black weapons, shaped like thick daggers, with square hand guards. He wasn't sure how they got there, but when a Dusk appeared in front of him, ready to strike, he lashed out with his weapons, slashing it in the chest. The Dusk disappeared into the darkness. The others stopped, swaying where they stood. "He has his Hidden Blades. But the Superior took his memory away. How does he fight?" Kane could hear the strange un-voices echoing through his head, while Sora stared at him. "How did you do that? You didn't touch him," he said. I didn't? But my weapons went right through it. What is he talking about? The creatures slowly crept forward. "Luck, perhaps? He might not have regained his full memory. Kill him!" The Dusks moved forward again, and Kane held his daggers up, prepared. But now a new voice filled his head, barely more than a whisper. "Think 'axe'."

No sooner did the thought fill his mind, than his weapons changed form. The handguards sprouted long spikes, while the blades thinned and became cylinder-like, extending out four feet. At the tips of the newly formed shafts, wicked blades grew from the metal and curved back, the other side of the shafts sprouting two more spikes, shorter than those on the handguards. The Dusks stopped again, but it was Kane who came forward this time. He took a run and, on instinct, leapt up and, to his surprise, right over the Dusks, dropping into their midst. No time for surprise, he brought his axes to his chest, then swung in wide arcs out to his sides, slashing into the Nobodies nearest. He brought his left axe up and chopped straight down in front, splitting a Dusk's head, while repeating the sweeping motion again with his right axe, this time embedding the spike into the chest of the surprised Dusk. With the few Nobodies left, he raised both axes high above his head, an inch apart, and swung them both down, chopping into the ground. As he did, spikes of darkness rose up from the ground, impaling the rest of the Dusks through the chests, stomachs, or heads. The cluster of defeated Nobodies disappeared in flashes of bright light, and the weapons in Kane's hands faded away to nothing.

Sora's key-like weapon disappeared in a flash of light, like the Nobodies, and he turned to Kane with his hands on his hips. "OK, how did you do that? This time, you didn't even get near them!" Kane scratched his head in confusion.

"What do you mean? Didn't you see my weapons?"

"What weapons?"

Hmm? He couldn't see them? But the Nobodies could…or could they? Maybe they're something only I can see? They called them my 'Hidden Blades'. Does 'hidden' mean they are invisible? Pulling Xaken's Journal from his pocket, Kane wrote down what had just happened, the conversation, and his thoughts on what happened. Strangely, it seemed familiar. It made him think of the word 'Reports'. He slid it back in his coat, and found Sora still staring at him. "Um….I'm not sure how I did it, actually," he lied, "It just kind of did."

He could tell they didn't fully believe him, but decided to drop the matter. "Well, it's over, and we want to check up on some friends of ours. Follow us," said Sora. Walking with his new friend, soon Kane saw what Donald had meant when he said 'Gummi Ship'. It was a strange craft that looked like it was made from square, cylinder-like, and round pieces of the stuff gummi bears were made of. Boarding the strange craft, which was completely solid on the inside, it lifted into the air, engineered, apparently, by a pair of talking chipmunks. Such a strange world this is. Zooming away from Twilight Town, they were soon in a strange, airless black sky full of dark colors, zooming through some kind of path. At the end, he could see a dark sphere with strange-looking buildings and a humongous pumpkin. As they came nearer and nearer to the place, Kane looked out the side window, and jerked slightly. He was staring at his reflection for the first time. He was young-looking, perhaps near the same age as Sora, but smaller and slimmer, with pale, almost pure white skin. His hair was in the middle of short to medium length and bushy, falling around his cheeks and small bangs over his forehead, black with spiky red tips. His eyes were large and gray, he wore a pair of silver-framed glasses, and both ears were pierced with small silver balls, with a small silver hoop through his lower lip on the right side of his mouth. Looking forward, he saw a gateway of bright light shaped like a keyhole, and then the light was filling the inside of the ship, blinding him…

When he came to, he was lying facedown on a cracked street. He pushed himself to his feet and tried to blink the glare left from the light from his eyes. As his vision began to clear, he saw the silhouettes of three people. "Sora? Donald, Goofy, is that you," he asked. "Yeah," said Sora. The last bits of the glare left his vision, and he focused on Sora, Donald, and Goofy…and leapt back with a yell of fright.

Sora's clothes had changed. They were black and gray, there was a small pumpkin mask on his head, and his skin had paled and taken on a gray hue. Most disturbing were the small fangs protruding from his upper lip. Donald was covered in dirty bandages, and Goofy looked liked a weird Frankenstein-dog-thing. At his yell, the three began to laugh, and Kane planted his hands on his hips, glaring at them. And what's so funny," he asked. His hand covering his mouth, Sora's reply was broken with fits of giggling as he pointed with his other hand to a fountain that Kane just now noticed, made of stone with a some kind of monster spitting out the green liquid. "Look…look at your…ref-reflection…hee hee." Frowning, Kane walked over to the fountain and bent over to look at his surprisingly clear reflection, and let out another yell.

His appearance changed like the others. His hair was silver with black tips, his eyes had turned bloodred, and his canines had elongated into small fangs, thinner than Sora's, sticking out from his upper lip. The hood of his coat disappeared, replaced by a ragged, high collar, with jagged black stripes starting from the middle of the back of his coat and curving around to his waist, accentuating his hourglass figure. From the waist down, his coat flared out behind him, the hem torn and ripped, small black claws had ripped through the fingers of his gloves, and the pants he wore became much tighter. He turned back to the others, but before he could speak, he was distracted by a loud, friendly voice behind him that said, "Welcome!" He turned around…

And he came face-to-face with a seven foot tall skeleton, wearing a black suit with a flared, ragged collar, with burning red eyes, bony fingers stretching out his mouth, which was lined with sharp teeth. He let out a high-pitched, beast-like scream right in Kane's face, and again Kane fainted. When he awoke, he was surrounded by his friends, the skeleton, whose eyes were no longer burning and the sharp teeth in his mouth were gone, and a woman with red hair who looked as if she was sewn together, like a rag doll. He gave a small whimper of fright. "Heh, sorry," said Sora, "I forgot to warn you. Halloweentown is full of monsters, but most of them are friendly. That was Jack's way of welcoming you. This is Jack Skellington, and this is Sally. Jack, Sally, this is our new friend, Kane." Jack Skellington offered a hand to Kane, who grabbed it and was pulled to his feet. "Welcome to Halloweentown," said Sally. "Thanks," replied Kane.

Now that he got a proper look, Halloweentown was a rather scary place. The buildings were dark, with high towers in the distance, spiky spires reaching high into the night sky, with a humongous, full moon casting its bright light on the world below. There was a tall, tower-like house, several feet from a gray building with a black gate, and something like an apartment complex. The street was full of creatures. There was a werewolf in a plaid shirt, five vampires, an eyeball with bat wings and spider legs, and a skinny old man and a large, fat woman in a sewn-up dress, with a little bald fat kid wearing a striped shirt and shorts, on a leash. The tall skeleton, Jack, turned to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, with Sally standing beside him.

"What are you three doing back so soon? Not more Heartless?"

Sora shook his head. "No, we just stopped by to make sure everything has been fine since we left."

The woman gave him a nod. "No Heartless have shown up since then."

"What about men in black coats," asked Goofy.

Jack shook his head. "None of them, either. But you could go and ask Sandy Claws if he's seen anything."

"Jack, we've told you before, it's 'Santa Claus'."

But Jack wasn't listening, engaged now in conversation with the werewolf. Sora shook his head, then motioned for the others to follow him as they left the town, heading down a path that led to a graveyard with tall tombstones. "What a strange world," Kane commented him. Sora looked back with a smirk, and said, "If you think this is strange, wait until later." Kane took the journal belonging to this 'Xaken' from his pocket again, slid the pen from the metal bindings, and began to write. As he did, he couldn't help but notice Sora's eyes lingered on him for a few seconds, then turned back forward. Kane could feel his cheeks reddening.

Soon, they had come to a dark forest, and, in front of them, a tree with a door, which was shaped like a decorated Christmas Tree. "What's this," asked Kane. They didn't answer him, however, and when Sora pulled the door open, Goofy snuck behind Kane and pushed him through the door. He fell through a long tunnel of swirling colors, and when he awoke, he was lying face down on something white, wet-ish, and cold. Shivering, he pushed himself into a sitting position, noticing the others were already to their feet after following behind him. "Where are we?" He picked up a handful of the white stuff. "And what is this?" Donald laughed, and kicked a bit of it his way.

"We're in Christmastown, and this is 'snow'."

"Snow?"

"Yes," said Goofy, "It's frozen water that falls from the sky, like rain. It's fun to play with."

They helped Kane back up to his feet, and he dropped the handful of snow, walking with them. "I don't think my small frame is suited to the cold."

The others just snickered as they led him to a small town full of bright lights and weird, little people running around. Kane's eyes went wide as he took it all in, and they led him up to a small house and knocked on the door. It flew open, and a fat old man with a long beard and red clothes stood in the doorway. "Well, hello Sora, Donald, and Goofy! It's good to see you again! And who is this you've brought with you?" Kane stepped forward, giving the man a small wave. "Kane, sir."

"Kane, this is Santa Claus," said Sora.

"Jack isn't up to his usual trouble, is he," asked the fat man.

Sora shook his head, and Kane hung back, examining a large machine that wasn't moving, but looked as if it spun around. Soon the fat man closed the door, and Sora turned to Kane. "Santa hasn't seen any Heartless or Nobodies either. We've checked every world except for Radiant Garden."

"Which is?"

"A town that used to be called Hollow Bastion."

"What a horrible name," said Kane.

"It was. That's where we should go next. Come on."

"But Sora," said Goofy, "You've forgotten about Olympus!"

"That's right," Sora replied, "I did! I suppose we should check there first. Follow us, Kane."

As they all walked back to the tree with the pumpkin sign on it, Kane took the small journal from his pocket and put in everything he had heard.

Every "world", whatever that means, has been checked except for "Radiant Garden" and "Olympus". Funny, but the name "Hollow Bastion" sounds familiar. Why? Distantly, mired in his thoughts, Kane heard Goofy mention a place that sounded like "The World That Never Was", and Sora only said "The Gummi Ship can't take us there yet". The World That Never Was? Why is that so familiar?

"Ugh!"

"Kane, are you OK?"

Sora rushed forward to help Kane to his feet, as he had fallen to his knees with a sudden memory that played through his mind like a movie….

Kane saw a room of white and silver, with an impossibly high ceiling. In the room were fourteen chairs, the lowest one at least a hundred feet from the floor. They were more like thrones, and each one had a number under the seat, displayed as a Roman numeral. On the tallest chair, marked with a I, sat a lean man with his arms folded across his chest and the hood of his black coat up, obscuring his face. There were a few others doing the same, like a heavily-muscled man on the chair marked III, and a young boy on a chair marked XIII. Some had their hoods down, like a man with long blue hair and an X scar on his face, and another, girl-figured man with long, spiky red hair. On the lowest chair, marked XIV, was Kane! He knew it was him, because of his slight figure and red coat. But something felt off. If this was his memory, why was he staring at himself on the chair, instead of looking up at the others through his chair. And why was he at a position higher than the XIV chair?

The man in the tallest chair shifted in his seat a bit, to look down upon the boy in the XIII chair. "Roxas, go now." The boy he spoke to gave a scoff, and slid from his seat, enveloped in darkness which faded with him. The red-haired man looked worried, then slid from his seat too, disappearing in the same way.

The one in the highest chair looked down at the one in the red coat. "I expect him to fail. You know what you have to do?" He nodded, and the one in the Number I chair sat back against it. "Then go, little spy." As the figure in the red coat slid from his chair, he said, "Yes, Superior," and disappeared as the other two had.

When the strange memory faded, Kane found himself supported by Sora, Donald and Goofy, who were staring at him. "Are you alright," asked Goofy. Kane nodded, and straightened up. "I'm…fine," he lied.

"You fall down a lot," Sora was saying. Kane nodded, and opened the door back to Halloweentown, going in first. Soon, they were back on the Gummi Ship, and Goofy was starting up the engine. Stranger and stranger. I feel as if that was my memory. That red coat was identical to mine, but why was I seeing it as if I were a stranger. And the red-haired one…I think that was Axel. For some reason, they were shooting at things attacking them in the space between worlds.

I almost feel as if I remember the name of that one, the one called "Superior". Xem-something. Xem…Xemnas? Should I tell the others? No, they'll only be suspicious of me. I'd better keep my mouth shut. That looked like Organization XIII. But why were there fourteen? That's one extra. And he called me it…me…'spy'. Why?

Unconsciously, Kane was writing his thoughts down in the Journal. He had also written 'Xemnas Reports' at the top.

Soon they found a clear stretch of space. Sora was saying something about Goofy taking over, and was walking to the back of the ship, to where Kane was sitting. He looked away, and noticed in his reflection that he was back to normal. "Hey," Sora said, sitting next to Kane. "Hi." He slid the Journal back into his pocket, turning to face Sora.

"Donald and Goofy…they've been asking questions. How much do you remember?"

"Not much", Kane admitted, which was true; that memory was just a small bit of what he probably really knew.

"Goofy thinks he made a connection."

"Such as?"

"Well," said Sora, "You've told us your name is 'Kane'. And that book says 'Xaken's Journal'."

Kane nodded. "What about it?"

"Since we've been fighting the Organization, we've learned strange habits about them. One is that each Nobody in the Organization shows his loyalty by adding an 'x' to whatever his or her original name was. Their leader's name is Xemnas." Seems I was right. "His Heartless was an evil man named Ansem, who stole that name from his teacher. His true name was Xehanort. But Xemnas kept the name and added an 'x' to it, do you see?" Kane nodded. Sora seemed to hesitate, then said, "I had a Nobody too. His name was Roxas." Roxas…the small one, with the attitude. "You say you've lost your memory. We think you could be a Nobody in disguise." Kane couldn't help but notice that Donald and Goofy had abandoned their stations and had their weapons out, and Sora looked ready for a fight. "'Xaken' is 'Kane' with an 'x' added. And you're wearing an Organization coat, although yours is red. We aren't stupid."

"I…I've been wondering about that myself. But I honestly can't remember who I am."

"You still say you have amnesia?" Kane nodded. Sora didn't seem to fully believe him.

"I can't tell if I'm a Nobody. But when I met you three, the name 'Kane' just came out of nowhere. Sora gave a nod but didn't say anything, which Kane took to mean, 'Go on.' "But I can't be a Nobody. I mean, I feel too."

"But some Nobodies think they have emotions," Donald put in, "How do we know you really have a heart?" Good question. How do I know, too?

"Listen, back in Christmastown, I had a…a memory."

"What kind?"

"It went like this," he began, "I saw a room of white, with a lot of tall, throne-like chairs. And sitting on them were figures in black coats. One was Xemnas. The other was Roxas."

"Were there thirteen people there?" Goofy asked.

Kane shook his head. "Fourteen chairs, some were empty." The others seemed shocked.

"But there are only thirteen members of the Organization," said Sora.

"No, there were fourteen. On the last chair, was a red-coated figure. Xemnas called him 'Number XIV'."

"But _you_ have a red coat."

"It's weird. I have this memory, but I wasn't the one on the chair. I was watching the others, apart from the one in the red coat, but they didn't so much as _look_ at me. Xemnas said 'Go now' to Roxas, then told me he expected Roxas to fail and to do what I knew to do." Kane was quick to omit the 'spy' part.

"You think you weren't the one on the chair?"

"I know."

Donald walked over to them. "I still think he's a Nobody!"

Sora turned to Kane. "You can't remember anything?" Kane shook his head. "Maybe you are a Nobody. How do you feel about the Organization?"

"They sound like bad news, but if I am a member, I don't want to be." Donald scoffed, but went back to driving the Gummi Ship.

"I don't know if it's a good idea to keep you around," said Sora, although the curious look on his face was at odds with that statement. "I don't either, I'm a bit worried. I think, perhaps I _am _a Nobody. But I want to help you three. Maybe, if I regain my memory, I'll have changed."

"I doubt it, but we can wait and see, I suppose. About when we were fighting those Dusks," Sora began, but Kane cut him off.

"It was weird. These black daggers appeared in my hands, and told me to think 'axe'. They turned into axes. You couldn't see them, could you?" Sora shook his head. "I thought not. I heard those Nobody Dusks talking to me. They called me 'My Lord' and 'Brother', and said the daggers were my 'Hidden Blades'."

Sora rubbed the back of his head, and sighed. "That's proof enough for me. We can safely, or maybe, not-so-safely say that you _are_ a Nobody, if you can hear other Nobodies talking to you. But as you said, maybe you've changed. We'll have to wait and see."

As the Gummi Ship sped forward, both teens became lost in thought. And Kane, or Xaken, as he now thought of himself, thought he could sense, but not sure, a strange, growing new…or perhaps, old, sense of self coming to him. And it's cunning, it's confidence, it's seductive sense of right and power frightened him. His eyelids dropped just slightly, and a small, wicked smirk grew on his face as he reached out to touch Sora's hand, who didn't pull away, but instead turned his hand so their palms met and laced his fingers between Xaken's.

--

Author's note: This is the part where yaoi haters wanna stop reading. For people who like yaoi, you'll really like Chapter 2, but I'm not gonna say when it is, heh heh.


	2. I love you

**Part 2 of 3**

A/N: So, re-doing Part 2, now, because I forgot about Olympus in Part 1 and was too lazy to go back and do it anyway. We see more of Xaken's other self coming out, and he gets to be pretty bad-ass.

Disclaimer: If you don't know this already, you haven't been paying attention.

--

As they were in no hurry to get to Olympus, the Gummi Ship rocked slowly as it crawled through the strange space between the worlds. Chip and Dale, the chipmunk engineers, had modified the Gummi Ship, enabling it to set its own course for a world, freeing Donald and Goofy to play a game of cards. Sora and Xaken were sitting in the back, holding hands. Xaken still had that evil little smirk on his face, and Sora still had his face turned away, as he was sure it was bright red, as he could feel the heat.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

When Sora turned around to face Xaken, the other lunged forward suddenly, and planted a soft kiss on the tip of his nose. Sora seemed shock and his face invented a whole new shade of red. As Sora was just about to say something, Xaken got to his feet, pulled Sora from his chair, and then leapt forward, wrapping his arms and legs around Sora's torso and tackling him to the floor. "GLOMP!"

Donald and Goofy, who saw the whole thing with wide eyes, just shook their heads and went back to their card game. "Kids," they muttered, and Goofy dealt out a new hand.

Sora now found Xaken's grinning face inches from his own, Xaken's gray orbs glinting behind his glasses. "I-I-I d-d-…um, y-you h-h-ha…." Xaken tilted his head to the side, unable to understand Sora through his stuttering. "Yes?"

"L-lip ring…nice…"

"Oh, you noticed that, huh? Dunno where it came from but it's kinda cool."

"D-doesn't it, um…h-hurt?"

"No. Actually, I'm barely ever aware that its in."

Xaken was in a rather mischievous mood. How far can I take this before he gets too embarrassed? Let's see. With a smirk, he slid his hands down to Sora's waist, then pushed his shirt up, exposing his ribs. "H-hey, what are y-you…n-no, d-d-don't, I'm tick-tickli-" Sora couldn't get out anymore than that, as Xaken began to merciless tickle Sora's bare skin, with his face buried in the Keyblade wielder's chest. Sora tried to hold in his giggling, but he could help it and it burst out of him, while he squirmed under Xaken to try to get away.

Then Xaken gave Sora a reprieve, only to grab his waist and pull him so that their hips met. Xaken could feel Sora's arousal, and Sora's face looked as though it held all of the blood in his body. Xaken wondered if Sora had ever even kissed anyone. He decided to test that theory, but first took it a step further. Smiling, he placed his lips at Sora's neck, and gave it a little nip. A small squeak escaped Sora's lips. Goofy and Donald, having watched the whole tickling thing, wanted to interrupt, but the chipmunks waved their hands at them to tell them to stay put. Perverted little voyeurs.

Grinning like a jackass, Xaken set his orbs above Sora's, then leaned in to press his lips softly against the others. Sora let out a little moan, and part his lips when he felt the tip of Xaken's tongue run lightly over his. Then he felt his lower lip pulled through Xaken's lips, who pressed down a bit more, as a small bell rang out from the Gummi Ship's dashboard. A voice filtered through a small speaker, and Xaken held his position, listening intently.

"Time until touchdown in Olympus: Twenty seconds."

Xaken felt Sora squirm under him, and pushed himself up slightly to let the taller boy slide out from under him, push himself to his feet, and dash over to the window, seeing the world of Olympus come closer and closer. "We're here already?!" he shouted, half in excitement, half in disappointment. Donald and Goofy tried to ignore the very conspicuous bulge in Sora's shorts. Xaken joined them a few seconds later, smoothing out his coat. "So, what's in Olympus?

Sora turned to him with a grin. "Herc, Meg, and Phil!"

Xaken tilted his head to the side, but before Sora could answer, the Gummi Ship shuddered as it landed, the door opened, and Sora, Donald and Goofy sprinted out to meet their friends. He looked to Chip and Dale, who shrugged and winked. A bit disturbed, he quickly backed out of the Gummi Ship, and turned around to see a very tall, very muscular man with short brown hair and blue eyes looking down at him, a smile on his handsome face. "Hello. Who are you?"

Sora spoke from the man's side. "This is our friend, Xaken. Xaken, this is Hercules."

Hercules held his hand out, and Xaken shook it, feeling as though his hand was being crushed in a vise. "Nice…to…met you," he said between pained grunts. Hercules let go of him and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that. Xaken, this is Megara, and Phil, my trainer."

Megara was a young, beautiful woman with long, dark brown hair, and Phil a short, chubby goat-man with red hair. He was nearly bald. "It's nice to meet you," said Megara. "Hey, how ya doin'?" said Phil, barely noticing the Nobody. Phil turned to Herc, grabbed his cape, and dragged him off towards a large arena. "Come on, kid, ya got trainin'!" Herc waved goodbye to the others, and followed the chubby satyr. Megara turned to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Xaken.

"Have you guys come because of trouble, or a visit?" asked Megara.

"A bit of both," replied Sora. "Seen anything suspicious?"

Megara shook her head. "Nothing more than usual."

Suddenly, several ear-splitting shrieks echoed into the sky, along with thumpings and crashings in the arena. Sora turned to the others, then ran for the arena with Donald, Goofy and Xaken in tow. When they got to the arena, they saw the cause of the racket; Hercules battling a giant hydra! The beast lashed its head at him on a long neck, trying to grab him up in its razor-sharp fangs. Hercules jumped off to the side, dodging the head, and then slicing it off. The body shuddered in pain, reared up, and two new heads sprouted from the wound!

In awe, the group of friends watched as Hercules fought. He tried repeatedly to kill it by cutting its heads off, but every time one was severed, two more would take its place. Ten heads were now weaving a hypnotic dance as they lashed out at the god-like man, who was now fending them off with his fists instead of his sword. But Hercules was in trouble. He couldn't find an opening through the attacks, and would soon begin to tire.

Suddenly, an idea came to Xaken, who, ignoring the others' worried cries, ran out onto the battle field. He saw a winged horse in the air and gave a loud whistle. It flew down, and seemed to recognize his friendly intent. Allowing him to climb on its back, the Pegasus rose into the air, and Xaken jumped down, straight for a head that saw him and was waiting to rip him apart.

As he neared it, his Hidden Daggers appeared in his palms. Merging them together into a black zanbatouA/N: Like Cloud's Buster Sword, he swung the sword, which was larger than his body, down at the head, ten feet away from striking it. Instead, a black shadow-like substance roared out from the blade and forced its way down the hydra's throat and into its body. The monster became still, shuddering and convulsing, the yes in every head rolling up so only yellow remained. It gave another great shudder, fell to the ground with a crash, and was still. The Pegasus caught Xaken as he fell and landed lightly on the ground.

Xaken turned to the others, who were just stunned. "That…that was another Hidden thing, wasn't it?" Kane nodded, and let his zanbatou fade into nothing. Hercules, exhausted, almost got a word about, before collapsing to the ground and snoring loudly. Xaken looked down at the tired hero, then shrugged. "Seems as if everything is fine here. Should we go?"

Sora gave a nod. "I think so. If there are no Heartless or Nobodies…" He looked to Megara, who shook her head. "Then we should go." The others followed Sora back to the ship, after saying goodbye to Megara and a stunned Phil. The door closed, the Gummi Ship shuddered, then lifted into the air and took off into the strange space. Donald and Goofy took the wheels of the ship, and Xaken and Sora sat in the back, Xaken pulling Sora close to cuddle him, causing the Keyblade wielder to blush.

The Gummi Ship, speeding onward through the swirling colors of space, was suddenly struck by a violent jolt, shuddering the massive vessel. Sora and Xaken both seemed to come out of a reverie, Sora getting to his feet, that key-like weapon appearing once more in his hand.

"Sora, what is that," asked Xaken.

"The Keyblade. A weapon with the power to open or close any lock, physical or otherwise, that will only let me wield it."

How…interesting. The Gummi Ship shuddered again, and they could hear loud, powerful blows raining on the top. A long, thin sword pierced the roof, slashed a gash through it, and a pair of massive hands tore the section of roof right off the ship.

They were again surrounded by Nobodies, and these ones didn't look like they would ever think of running. The humanoid, masked, sword-bearing Nobodies called Samurai were joined with another of the high-ranking Nobodies; the massive, warhammer-wielding behemoth called a Berserker, easily three times Sora's size. The Berserker was holding onto the Gummi ship now with one hand to keep up with them, his other grabbing his hammer, ready to rain down punishing blows. The Samurai drew their swords, and Sora was doing something with his Keyblade. He removed and replaced some kind of small chain. Now the weapon instantly turned all-black, with a pointed, square hand guard and a wicked blade. Goofy and Donald came running from the front of the ship, shield and scepter held high for the fight.

The Samurai were almost as tall as Sora, and he was somewhere around 5'6. One Samurai raised his sword in a straight, downward slash, and Sora blocked the blow by raising his Keyblade and blocking the sword with the shaft of the magical weapon, while Donald came from behind, scepter raised high, and lighting shot downward from nowhere, obliterating the Nobody on the spot. Another snuck up behind Goofy, or tried to, as the dog suddenly whipped his body around, shield held flat out, slicing the Nobody across the chest with the razor-sharp edge, killing it. Two rushed in at Xaken, and, with a lunge, each aimed to pierce his chest with their swords. He put a hand on the back of his chair, and pulled himself up, turning into the maneuver, so that he now held himself up in a handstand on the back of the chair, now skewered by the Samurai's swords. My, my…I didn't realize how strong I am.

Yet another Samurai came at Xaken, as he was facing the first two attacking Nobodies. "Kane, look out!" Goofy shouted a warning at the teen, and he pushed himself straight up from the chair, narrowly missing a side slash that would have taken off his hands. As he made his small little hop, with a sudden, strange burst of speed, he flipped himself right side up, and came down upon the attacking Samurai, delivering a powerful axe-kick to his head. As the creature staggered back, stunned, he pulled its sword from its grasp and stabbed it in the chest. Goofy hurled his shield at the other two, taking their heads off as the weapon sped through the air, spinning through their necks and moving like a boomerang; back into Goofy's waiting hand. Donald turned to the last Samurai left, which charged right at him. A jet of magical flame shot from his scepter, burning the Nobody to a crisp and killing it in a flash of light.

Their thrill of victory was short-lived, as the still-present Berserker swung his hammer into the side of the ship, jolting the vessel again. Donald aimed the Blizzara spell at the beast, but it harmlessly glanced off. Goofy threw his shield at its neck, but the weapon bounced right off. Sora, seeing his friends' failure, bravely rushed toward the Nobody. But it merely swatted him away with its hand. Xaken calmly walked toward the Nobody, looking up into its face. "Listen, you. I'll give you one chance to run away. If you don't, I will end you."

The Berserker seemed to laugh, and Xaken heard another, more powerful un-voice echoing through his mind; there, but not; audible, yet silent. "Lord Sai'x commands us, Lord Xaken. We must obey." Sai'x? The Berserker lowered his hand down, quickly, to crush Xaken under his palm. He merely leapt back, light on his feet, and then forward, landing on the back of its hand. With a smirk, he ran up the Nobodies arm, feeling that warmth in his palms again.

Again, the black daggers appeared in his hands, and that voice echoed through his head again. Similar, but apart from the Nobodies that speak to him. "Think…claymore." I was gonna do another zanbatou, but ok. As soon as the thought entered his head, the daggers clanged together as though drawn by a magnet, melding and morphing. They became a singular weapon, a claymore as long as Xaken's body, powerful, yet, strangely, not heavy in the least.

He stepped up onto the Berserker's shoulder, and pushed off, landing on top of the Gummi. Now he faced the creature in the strange, swirling space between the worlds. With a roar, it swung its massive hammer at his body. The attempt was laughable, and indeed, a small giggle of laughter escaped him as he leapt from the ship, landing on an asteroid. The Berserker swung again, and he jumped back off, the hammer crashing through the rock. He descended, bringing the claymore down in a diagonal slash, cutting through its neck and shoulder. It spilled no blood, nothing, just a rip in its husk of a body. Its other hand came up and swatted him away.

Spinning his body in midair, he landed on another asteroid in time to see the Berserker's hammer coming for him again. With a small growl of anger, he raised the claymore, slashing upward, and cutting through its hammer, breaking it into pieces. The Nobody gave a roar of pain as he cut away half of its power. Pushing off from the asteroid, he lunged forward with his sword, stabbing between the middle of its eyes. The sword disappeared as the Berserker fell away from the ship, roaring the last cry it would ever make. Xaken fell through the hole in the roof the Berserker had made, as the others put their own weapons away.

"What was that about," quacked Donald.

"That's never happened before. I didn't think Nobodies could attack here," said Sora.

"It could be because of me," replied Xaken, "The Berserker told me it was following the orders of 'Lord Sai'x', whoever that is."

Sora and the other two gasped, and Goofy stepped forward. "Sai'x is another Nobody in the Organization!"

"Hmm…Then it must be me. My former friends must want me dead very, very much to be sending squads of high-ranking Nobodies at me. And I'm getting you three mixed into it. I'm sorry."

Sora shook his head, quieting Donald before the duck could speak. "We can't blame you. I offered to have you join us. It's my fault."

"No, it isn't. The only ones at fault are the Organization."

"Have you remembered anything else about the Organization," asked Sora, but Xaken shook his head.

"Nothing."

"You're an amazing fighter," Sora told him. Both teens sat in the chairs in the back of the ship, while Donald and Goofy took their places driving. As Xaken replied to Sora, he watched the two chipmunks repairing the giant hole in the roof. "Thank you. I actually amazed myself; I didn't know I could do any of that." Xaken gave Sora a smile that brought a faint red color under his eyes. Xaken just smirked.

He should have realized, with the way events were currently going, something else was bound to go wrong. And it did, with frightening quickness. As the chipmunks, named Chip and Dale, were welding metal to the hole in the roof, sparks suddenly flew from the gas tank they used to fuel the fire. They paused, then they seemed to decide it was a one-time irregularity, for they went right back to work.

Sparks flew from the top of the tank, more and faster this time, and caught Xaken's attention. He had a split second to act. "C-crap! Get down!" Grabbing Sora by the collar of his shirt, he threw himself and the young hero to the ground as the tank above them, easily the size of a hackeysack, exploded.

The explosion was enough to rock the ship just slightly and nearly singe Xaken's hair , but, from above, bits of chipmunk and blood rained down on their heads as the blast echoed inside and outside of the ship. Donald gave a yell, startling Goofy, who jerked on the wheel of the ship, and collided with an oncoming asteroid. The right side of the ship tore away in chunks and fragments. The only one hit by the shards of broken ship were Donald, which sliced open the side of his face and torso, spilling blood over the side of his body, organs spilling out and landing wetly on the floor. In an unbelievable amount of pain, Donald summoned enough strength to look over at Goofy, then gave a great, rasping breath, and was still.

Xaken held Sora's face to the floor, to spare him the sight of his friends' deaths, and held his other hand out. "Goofy, grab my hand, now!" The dog, tears streaming from his eyes, threw himself over his chair, landing hard and breaking his nose, with just enough reach to grab Xaken's gloved hand, slick with chipmunk blood. As the rest of the ship began to twist and break apart, showering them in fragments of ship, causing superficial cuts that still bled somewhat badly, a shroud of black and purple shadows enveloped them and faded with them as the entire Gummi Ship exploded.

The first to awaken was Sora. He pushed himself to his knees, feeling extremely weak, and looked up at the sky. Dark as a Heartless. Their wounds had stopped bleeding some time ago, and were now starting the slow healing process. He looked over, and saw two bodies lying on the ground. Goofy was three feet away, breathing, but unconscious, with his shield covering his head like a bamboo hat. And inches from him was Xaken, also alive, bloodied, his glasses on the ground, inches from his face. But Sora didn't see Donald anywhere. He pushed himself to his feet, looking around for a sign of the duck. "Donald? Donald! Are you here?"

Worried, he thought that maybe Donald had woke before him, and gone to Merlin's house to get help. They were lying in the town square of Radiant Garden, no more than a large square sunken into the ground with some junk pushed away in a corner. He pulled himself up out of the sunken ground, and took off towards Merlin's house. No sooner his he get past Uncle Scrooge's sea salt ice cream store, than he ran right into Squall Leonhart, a tall, muscular, brown-haired man wielding a sword shaped like a gun. He wore a white shirt under a short, black jacket lined with white fur, black pants, and heavy boots. He was an excellent fighter, and one of Sora's friends in Radiant Garden. "So, you're the cause of the trouble again, Sora!" The smile on the handsome fighters' face faded when he took in Sora's appearance. "God, what happened? Why are you covered in blood? Where are Donald and Goofy?"

"Sora shook his head." Goofy and Xaken are badly hurt, didn't Donald come to you to get help?" Leon, as he liked to be called, looked toward the Square, then back to Sora's anxious face. "A woman was screaming about corpses in the Square, so I came to investigate. I haven't seen Donald at all. Who is Xaken? Sora, what the fuck is going on?"

Sora shook his head, and then took Leon's hand and pulled him toward the Square. "I can't explain now, Goofy and Xaken need help! Come on!" Leon nodded, and went with Sora to his friends. Leon pocketed Xaken's glasses and lifted Goofy onto his shoulders. "Sora, you get the small one, he'll be lighter than Goofy." Sora nodded, and lifted Xaken onto his shoulders. Then they took off running for Merlin's house.

Leon burst through the door, startling the others inside the house; Aerith, Tifa, Cid, and of course, Merlin himself. "Goodness!" he exclaimed, "What is all this about?" Leon set Goofy on the bed, while Sora gently lowered Xaken to lie on the table. Leon took the Nobody's glasses and set them next to him. "They need help, Merlin. Can you do anything?" The old wizard crossed the room over to the table, and bent low to examine the strange boy in his house. He opened an eyelid, took his head in his hands, turning it this way and that. "Hmm, maybe." He set his hand on Xaken's back, lifting him into a sitting position and pushing his head forward to get a look at the back of his neck. There, he had been branded with the mark of the Nobodies, and the symbol of the Organization. Merlin gasped and dropped Xaken back on the table, getting a sharp reply from Sora, but the old man ignored it. "Nobody! You brought a No Body into my house?! This boy is extremely dangerous! Sora, you should know better!"

Sora shook his head, while the others stared incredulously at him. "You don't understand, the situation is…different!"

"How?"

"I…I can't explain it, really. Xaken would be able to tell you the full story."

Leon stepped forward. "Then why don't we ask him," he said. Sora looked over, and Xaken was sitting on the table, putting on his glasses, which slightly magnified his deep, gray eyes, making them sparkle.

Sora ran over to the table and pulled Xaken into a hug, drawing a grunt of pain. "Xaken, you need to tell my friends everything that happened. And what happened to Donald?" Xaken looked into Sora's blue eyes, and shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know," he said gently, but he was lying; he felt it would be better that Sora hear it from Goofy. Before the Nobodies attacked the Gummi, Sora could sense a different kind of personality in Xaken. It was almost wicked, but somehow, he found himself strangely attracted to the Nobody. It confused him at first, but then he really thought about it. He'd been around Kairi a lot, but he liked her only as a friend. He couldn't think of any girl he liked like that. And a lot of times, during training, he would find himself staring at Riku's toned body. Then he was brought out of his thoughts by the others talking.

Merlin's wand was out, pointed at Xaken. "What are you doing with Sora," he was asking. The others were tense, as well, but not as hostile. Xaken slid from the table, straightening his coat.

"I'll try to make it short. My name is Xaken, I'm a Nobody, and we think I'm a member of the Organization."

"You think," repeated Leon.

"Yes. I have amnesia, and I can't remember much. What I do remember throws suspicion on why I was a member." Merlin still had his wand steady, rubbing his chin with his other hand. "There are only thirteen members of the Organization." "No. Apparently, there are fourteen. I'm Number XIV. Or was. I don't want to be a member any longer. The Gummi Ship exploded."

"Wh-what?! B-but…I," spluttered Merlin, "How? How did this happen?"

"Nobodies attacked us. Six Samurai and one Berserker, sent by Sai'x. The big one ripped a hole in the roof, and I took him out. The chipmunks tried to fix it, but…" He turned to Sora, sorrow evident in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Sora. When I pulled you down to the ground, I saw their tank was about to explode. There wasn't time to save them," he continued, trying not to let himself be distracted from what he needed to say, despite the tears in Sora's eyes, "And when that happened, Goofy must have gotten scared. We rammed into an asteroid and ripped open the side of the ship. Goofy was able to get to me in time before the ship exploded. I was able to use the darkness to bring us here, to Radiant Garden." Merlin was now tracing his wand first over Sora, then Goofy, and Xaken last, healing their wounds. He also made sure to magically wipe the blood from their bodies. Goofy awoke, and Sora immediately went over to him. "Goofy, what happened to Donald?" The dog shook his head, experimentally, trying to get rid of his grogginess, but then his eyes opened wide and fresh tears spilled out from them.

"Sora," he whispered, "I'm so sorry. When Donald yelled, he scared me, and I accidentally flew into an asteroid. Donald was…was killed by fragments of the ship." The horror of it was enough to bring Sora to his knees, racking his body with sobs. Goofy lowered his head, but Xaken, bringing up his courage, walked over to Sora and knelt behind him, slipping his arms over his shoulders. Sora didn't know or care at first, but when he recognized the dark red leather, he took hold of one gloved hand and leaned back against Xaken. "It'll be OK, Sora. It will, really." He ran his other hand through Sora's wild brown hair, and gently kissed the back of his head, so he could hide his face in Sora's hair, keeping the growing smirk on his face hidden. The others watched the three, confused, but touched by the two new friends.

After a few minutes, Xaken slipped out from Sora's grip and pulled him to his feet, holding him steady. "Merlin, is there a private room that Sora can grieve in?" The old wizard was at first distracted, but pulled himself out of it long enough to use his wand to create an extra room for his house. Xaken led Sora into the room, while Goofy had fallen asleep again from exhaustion. Xaken shut the door softly behind them, and led Sora over to the bed, sitting him down on it, and looked around. The room the wizard made was simple; a bed, a dresser, and a closet. As Sora tried to stop the flow of tears, Xaken searched in his coat for anything he could have missed.

Underneath, he wore a tight black sleeveless, and even tighter leather pants, the same red as his coat, gloves and boots. He found a small pack of dried food, only then realizing how hungry he had been since he'd met Sora, not even a day ago. Strange, how it had seemed like a week had already passed. He offered some to Sora. "Eat this, it'll help." Sora nodded and took the food, without eating it, and Xaken sat down next to him. "I'm sorry about your friend, Sora."

"Dangerous stuff has happened to us before, but I never thought it would actually happen."

"Nobody expects to die, Sora. When its time, it just happens."

He wiped a tear from Sora's face, who finally took a small bite of his food. "Sora, tell me how this all happened. You chasing the Organization, I mean."

Sora nodded, and pushed his hair from his face. "We didn't start out with the Organization. Me and my friend, Riku, our other friend Kairi had disappeared first, and then Riku disappeared right after her. I had no idea what to do, but somehow, I ended up talking to King Mickey."

"King Mickey?"

"Uh-huh. He told me about an evil man named 'Ansem', who was using the Heartless for wicked things, and if I found him, I would find Kairi. He asked Donald and Goofy to come with me. We traveled to different worlds, more than you've seen, and met a lot of people. Some of them became our friends. We unlocked the worlds and defeated the Heartless. I had to fight my friend, Cloud, once, and a witch named Maleficent who could become a dragon. When I finally found Ansem, he had taken control of Riku, and I had to fight him off. I defeated Riku, who became Ansem, the Heartless of a man who's actual named was Xehanort.

I turned into a Heartless too, but when Kairi shared her heart with me, I was able to come back. I made a Nobody, and so did Kairi, a girl named Naminé. Ansem was defeated by the power of the light, but his Nobody, Xemnas, is still alive. We've defeated a lot of Nobodies of the Organization. Demyx, Xaldin, Marluxia, and a few others." Each name spoken brought a jolt to Xaken's stomach as a mental picture of each Nobody formed in his head.

"Now we're chasing Axel, and trying to get to a place called The World That Never Was. The last of the Nobodies are there, and so is Kairi. Axel kidnapped her. I also believe Riku is still alive."

"I see."

"But the world is still blocked off for some reason, and we couldn't figure out how to unlock it. Not even the Keyblade could help me this time." Xaken scratched his head, thinking.

"Well, maybe you need the power of darkness to unlock this one. If so, I can help with that. And we can make them pay for what they've done."

"I don't like revenge, but they have to be stopped so they can't hurt anyone ever again."

"You're right, Sora." Xaken got to his feet. "Look, this entire day has put me on edge. I'm going to go check for signs of Nobodies, and I'll come back." Sora nodded, and Xaken left the room, shutting the door behind him. "He'll be fine," he said, before the others could ask, and said, "Be right back," leaving the house. He got out into the cool night air, and began a prowl around the neighborhood, taking his Journal from his pocket.

He wrote 'Xemnas Report 15' at the top, and began to write down everything that had happened. No sooner had he got to Donald's death, when his brain felt like a pulse ran through it, and his vision blurred. He shook it off, and tried to continue writing. But then agony exploded like a horrible flower of pain blooming in his head, and it felt like it would split open as a painful cache of memories began to pour into his head, taking him to his knees. Everything went black as the reel began to play in his head…

There it was, the Dusk he controlled, sitting on his XIV throne, listening to the conversation. He was hidden, invisible, undetectable, sitting on Larxene's vacated seat, as he heard orders being given to Roxas, the Nobody with the fake Keyblades. Then orders were given to his Dusk, and Xaken had to throw his voice to make it appear like the Dusk was talking. He thought he could detect a look of suspicion thrown his way, just for a second, from Axel, but then he was smiling again, looking lost in his own world. His Dusk slid from his throne, and he enveloped the creature in darkness…

Now he was watching Xaldin, quite mad from Cabin Fever, racing around the castle with a pair of scissors and a butcher's knife, while everyone tried to stay out of his way. Then came Xigbar, with both eyes intact, who ran right into Xaldin, the scissors sinking into his eye socket, the knife leaving a deep cut in Xigbar's face…

Now Xigbar, his face wrapped in bandages, was chasing Xaldin around the halls, shooting him in the ass and yelling "How do you like it, you bastard?!" while everyone else was laughing their heads off…

He was sitting at a desk, performing various secretary-like duties for Xemnas. And the most important of those were writing the 'Xemnas Reports', on the various activities of the members, and his suspicions on what they might be doing. Xemnas stood behind him, intimidating, imposing, as he told Xaken what to write…

Now he was back, once more, in that long, empty hallway, as the silence pressed in around him. Where were the others? Why wasn't Xigbar causing his usual mayhem? Axel not setting someone or something aflame (which was really worrying, because he couldn't seem to go five minutes without torching something)? Xaldin not crazy and stabbity, or drunken and stabbity, or all three? He turned a corner, and there, standing in front of him, Xemnas. He could see, in the darkness of his hood, a smirk on the face of his superior. He wasn't ready, he hadn't prepared, and it was too sudden for him to plan it out. Now he was trying to run, but Xemnas was far too fast, he felt a sharp blow to the back of his neck and now he was sinking, sinking into eternal night, lost, with no hope of salvation…

And just like that, he came too, and all of his memories, his sense of self, every bit of his came rushing back, and with frightening clarity, he remembered who he was, what he wanted, and what he still had to do. But Sora and Goofy…Donald died…they were becoming friends, and he wasn't sure whether he still wanted to do the job he had been given.

But before he had long to think it out, he heard a chuckle above him, and got to his feet, rubbing his head and looking up to see Number VII standing above him; Axel, The Flurry of Dancing Flames. He was the one who had taken out three Nobodies for plotting against the Organization, but his motives themselves were cloaked in mystery. He was smiling down at Xaken, but it wasn't a friendly smile. He was threatening him. "Xaken! I see you've recovered your memory a bit sooner than we expected! Pity…this makes you useless for what we want," he said, snapping a scowl down at Xaken, who, paled. "No, Axel…no, I can still do it!" Axel stepped to the side as a hooded figure came into Xaken's view.

Xemnas. "You had better," said The Superior, "Or your life will be forfeit. You will lead him to us, you will betray him, and you will take the Keyblade and complete Kingdom Hearts. You alone have the power now to do this, Number XIV. Do not fail us." The two men stepped back into the darkness, leaving Xaken alone.

Damn…if I don't do this, they will kill me. If I do, I might have to kill Sora. And even if I don't, he would never forgive me. Xaken stood for a long time in contemplation.

How could he think of doing that to Goofy? And Sora…he really liked Sora. No, not like. He _loved _Sora, he loved everything about him.

The realization of his death, before getting the thing he wanted more than anything, hit him like a stampede. His way forward was clear. There is only one choice left to me. I have to do this. I'm sorry, Sora. He felt sickened, disgusted with himself and his cowardice. Hating himself, he entered the house and, ignoring the others, walked over to Sora's room, wanting more time with Sora before they left.

As the young hero walked towards the door, it suddenly opened, and Xaken stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. Before Sora could say a word, gloved hands were placed at his hips, and he was pulled close as the Nobody's lips met his in a sudden, gentle embrace. Sora didn't object, but made a small sound of confusion as he felt himself being gently pushed down onto the bed. Xaken pulled away from the kiss, staring into Sora's eyes. "Sora…Sora, I want you. Now."

"O-ok," said Sora, who didn't know what to do, so he let Xaken take control. Xaken removed Sora's small jacket and shirt, tossing them to the floor. Stripping off his gloves, Xaken tossed those as well, and unzipped his coat, which joined the little pile. Smirking, he pushed Sora onto his back and leaned over the hero, trailing a string of soft kisses from his neck to his chest.

Xaken ran the tip of his tongue around Sora's nipple, getting a small moan from him. Then he ran his tongue on his skin down to his stomach, grabbing the waist of Sora's shorts and undoing the button. He yanked the zipper down and opened his shorts…and was hit in the face by a fleshy baseball bat!

"Holy…crap…" Xaken was stunned. Sora had to be at least a foot, maybe thirteen inches! Xaken was pretty big himself, at ten inches, which seemed overlarge compared to his small body, but nobody he met was as big as Sora!

"Wh-what?" Sora raised his head, wondering if there was a problem. But Xaken, eyes gleaming and a grin on his face, spit into his palms and worked his hands over Sora's length, softly twisting his hands. He couldn't even touch his fingers to his palms! He slid his lips over the head and swirled his tongue around it, causing Sora to gasp loudly and squirm under Xaken. He tried to push his hips up on instinct, but Xaken placed a hand on his stomach and held him in place with surprising strength.

He slid his free hand down towards the base of Sora's cock, sliding his lips past the head and taking more of Sora, slowly, inch by inch, into his mouth. Sora felt the heat of Xaken's mouth envelope him, and his tongue sliding over every bit of skin it could reach. Sora gripped the bedsheets tightly, his face rising in color, his breath short and erratic, uttering cute little moans and whimpers.

Sora felt himself entering Xaken's throat, who kept himself from gagging. Breathing through his nose, he calmly accepted Sora and pulled him deeper down his throat, until he had almost buried his nose in Sora's pubic hairs. Watching Sora's face, which was twisted in embarrassment and pleasure, he bobbed his head up and down at a steady pace, constricting and relaxing his throat, working on Sora's length with his lips, tongue, and hand, using his other hand to hold him in place. Sora felt a jolt shoot down his spine, and a strange, tingling warmth spread through his stomach to his cock. He cried out, and Xaken knew what was coming, feeling Sora swelling in his mouth, and pulled his head back as he felt Sora's cum slide down his throat. He pulled back until the head of Sora's cock was in his mouth, spreading the cum over his tongue, greedily sucking the rest out. He pulled his head up, lips coated, and blew cool air onto the head, causing Sora to shudder.

"How was that," Xaken asked Sora as he gently ran his hand along the length of Sora's softening member.

"That…that felt…really good," replied Sora, his face flushed, breathing heavily and raising his head to look at Xaken, his eyes glazed over.

Smirking, Xaken kicked his boots off, and pushed himself to his knees, undoing the waist of his pants and peeling the skintight leather off, removing two small, clear packets full of blue liquid before dropping them to the floor. "Don't relax, we're not done yet," he said, licking up the length of Sora from the base to the tip. "Let's get this hard again." Slowly, Sora's cock rose into the air again, hardening like an iron rod. Xaken climbed over Sora and stood on his knees, tearing the corner off of one packet and squeezing the slick lubrication liquid on his palm. He spread the liquid over the head of Sora's monster cock, then slid his hand down the base and back up, coating every inch of skin. Satisfied, he placed his hands at Sora's waist, and gently lowered himself until he could feel Sora spreading him wide. Sora's eyes opened wide as Xaken gripped his hips tightly and pulled himself down over Sora's cock, taking him into his tight little hole. He closed his eyes and a sigh of pleasure escaped him as Sora began to fill him. But Sora was bigger than anyone he'd ever had sex with, and it became harder to take in those full thirteen inches of heaven. With a determined grunt, he forced his body down to meet Sora's, feeling the slightest pinch of pain as Sora disappeared inside Xaken.

"H-how did you do that?"

Xaken's eyes were still closed, and his breath had shortened. "Don't you remember," he said, "I'm a Nobody. I'm an empty shell. Plenty of room in there," he joked, but Sora was too stunned to laugh. The hero gasped loudly again as Xaken pushed his body up until only the head remained, Sora feeling cool air on his length. Then Xaken forced his body down a second time, issuing another grunt mixed into a moan. He opened his eyes, which roared with fiery lust, and grabbed Sora's shoulders, pulling him up into a sitting position. Tightly wrapping his arms around the other, Xaken pressed his lips fiercely to Sora's, forcing his tongue into Sora's mouth and pulling his tongue in to suck on it as he rocked his hips back and forth in Sora's lap, the forceful kiss muffling the moans from both of them.

This wasn't Xaken's first time, and he wasn't gentle at all, wanting to ride Sora hard, for all he was worth. With his knees planted into the bed, pushing forward so he was lowered slightly, he was able to push himself up off of Sora's cock a few inches, then pull his hips in and ram down hard. Sora felt the almost impossibly tight walls of Xaken's ass squeezing and sliding in short bursts up and down his length, and Xaken's tongue locked in a fierce battle with his own. Xaken ran his hands through Sora's hair and grabbed a fistful at the back of his skull, yanking his head back. Sora cried out in pain and pleasure as Xaken bit down, hard, on his shoulder, piercing the skin. Two small trickles of blood ran down Sora's chest until Xaken licked both wounds clean. Xaken's cock was pressed between the two and the underside rubbed against Sora's stomach. Sora, never having had sex before, soon reached his limit for the second time. "A-again!" was all he could get out before Xaken felt him swelling again, stretching him even wider, almost to the point of pain. Sora had reached the very limit of the depth of Xaken, though, and the hot cum that flooded him was forced back down and out of Xaken's self-abused ass to leak down his legs in little rivers. Feeling Sora gushing into him brought Xaken to his first climax, and his cry mingled with Sora's as he felt himself swell and his cock twitch as he released thick strings of sticky cum on their chests, faces, and in their hair. Xaken's hips began to slow, and finally stopped, as Sora, near-exhausted, sank back into the bedsheets as Xaken released his hold and pushed himself off of Sora's quickly wilting member, which released a few more heavy loads of cum that randown his legs and pooled around him on the bedsheets, joined by the thick rivers that ran down Xaken's thighs.

Xaken wasn't finished yet. His eyes shone brighter, and Sora gave a little curious whimper as Xaken, his body beginning to shine with perspiration, like Sora's, gently turned the teen hero over, and grabbed the second packet of lube. Xaken never lost his erection, and tore a corner off of the second packet, squeezing most of the lube into his palm to evenly spread it over his length. The last bit he squeezed onto two fingers, throwing away the packet and gently spreading apart Sora's muscular, tight cheeks, rubbing the lube over Sora's virgin entrance, gently working his fingers inside him to get him slick. Sora squirmed in slight discomfort at the intrusion, but soon mewled in pleasure as he became used to it. But Xaken withdrew his fingers and replaced them with the head of his cock, and Sora's mewling became a gasp as he came out of his daze and realized what it was Xaken was about to do.

"Just try to relax," Xaken whispered, and quickly thrust his hips forward, burying himself into Sora's ass until his hips met Sora's.

Sora's mouth opened in a scream that wouldn't come out as pain brought tears to his eyes that spilled over his cheeks. Xaken kept his body still, to wait until Sora could relax and let him adjust, but he seemed to be trying to push Xaken out and crawl forward. Xaken gently gripped Sora's hips and held him back, moving his mouth close to his ear.

"Stay still and relax," he whispered.

"Please, take it out. It hurts." Sora's voice came out in a whisper as well, but he couldn't put any volume into his voice.

"Just do as I said, and it won't hurt for long," Xaken promised.

As he felt Sora begin to relax slightly around him, he slowly, very slowly, pulled his hips back as far as he could in a laying position, feeling cool air swirl around his length as it left the warmth of Sora's ass. Then, with the same extreme slowness, pushed back into Sora's red, hurting little hole, tears pouring down Sora's face as the pain seemed to grow. He gripped the bed tightly, and bit down on the single pillow to try to forget the intense pain, grunting with each thrust back into his abused hole. Xaken continued his slow, gentle thrusts, wiping the tears from Sora's face when they spilled from his eyes. To Sora, it seemed like forever and a day until the pain from Xaken's thrusts faded and felt numb, leaving the throbbing pain that was already there until it, too, began to slowly fade away. And even the numbness faded, and when Sora's grunts stopped, Xaken could tell it was safe now to go a bit faster. He slid his knees under his body, and pushed himself up, pulling Sora with him, who seemed to understood and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. Please replaced pain as Xaken now thrust his hips faster, having more room to pull behind, until only hisw head remained hidden in Sora until he slid back into him until their hips met. Again, little whimpers and moans escaped Sora, who shook from pleasure and the throbbing. As Xaken rocked his hips back and forth, now in a steady rhythm, hips bumping into Sora's and jolting him forward each time, he reached a hand under Sora to grasp his cock, as much of it as he could, and quickly pump his fist back and forth. Sora felt Xaken filling him, and his moans became louder as Xaken began to strike Sora's prostate. Hitting it made Sora cry out as sparks burst in his head. Both teens began to sweat heavily now, Xaken biting and kissing Sora's neck and shoulders, who's arms gave out under him and buried his face in his pillow. As Sora cried out for a third time, Xaken quickly pulled out of Sora and used his Nobody strength to flip the teen over, grabbing his cock to rub the undersides of both together. Xaken let out a low moan, spurts of cum bursting from both and trailing over the bed, coating Xaken's body, hair anf face, who leaned over Sora to give him the same treatment. The bed was soaked in it, it shone in the light on both of them, and Xaken dropped down on the bed next to Sora, to drape his arm over the taller teen and lick a few trails of it from his face, to then kiss Sora, who opened his mouth so Xaken could share it with him.

"I love you, Sora."

Tears sparkled in Sora's eyes again, tears of joy, who said, "I love you too, Xaken", before falling asleep in the others arms.

With a troubled look, Xaken knew that he had really meant it, which made him feel so horrible when he thought of what would come tomorrow, and he lay his head down and nuzzled his face into Sora's neck, exhaustion washing over him as he fell asleep next to Sora and cuddling the spiky-haired hero.

--

A/N: FOR YOOOUUUUU! So, Part 2 is finally-fucking-done! In the first version, Donald and the chipmunks' deaths weren't planned, they just came out. But I kept it the same, because their deaths are needed for the end. I put in the yaoi scene I omitted from the first version, and I hope I wrote it well. Depending on my mood, I may put in more in the third chapter. But probably not. Because of complications, Part 2 is put up later than I wanted, but no matter. Part 3 is coming up, and hopefully will be done soon.


	3. Farewell, Axel: The World That Never Was

**Part 3-A**

A/N: What?! 3-A?! Not 3?! Heh, sorry. I want to make the story much better with some suspense. What will happen next? I know, and you'll find out. I don't think there will be any more yaoi, as I won't have any idea where to put it, so, sorry, no whacky-whacky for you! Lol.

Disclaimer: You know what goes here.

When Sora woke up the next morning, Xaken was gone. He sat up, looking around the room created for them by Merlin. Xaken's clothes were hung up on a small rack on the door beside Sora's, which had been cleaned. He heard the sound of running water, and noticed a door that had not been there last night. Even as he started to get out of bed, the door opened, and Xaken walked out of the new bathroom, a white towel around his waist, using another to dry his hair.

"Good morning."

"What's good about it?" asked Sora, remembering the events of yesterday.

"Put your thoughts out of mind for the present, Sora. We need a clear mind to fight," said Xaken as Sora opened his mouth to argue, "And make sure our friends deaths' were not in vain. There will be time to mourn later. For now, focus and prepare for the coming battles. You should take a shower. Merlin has created a new Gummi Ship for us."

Sora nodded, and got out of bed, walking with a slight limp. Xaken smirked, and pressed a soft kiss to Sora's lips as he passed, then removed his towel when he heard the bathroom door close and took his clothes from the rack on the door. He pulled on his pants, and then his boots. He slid his arms through the sleeves of his coat and zipped it up to the middle of his chest, then pulled his gloves on. He flexed his fingers to make the gloves comfortable, then left the room. He heard the water running as he shut the door.

The first thing he noticed were the odd looks he got from Cid and Leon, Merlin was engrossed in a book on a pedestal, and for some reason, Aerith, Tifa, and a new girl that looked a bit like a ninja blushed at the sight of him and turned their heads away. Xaken cleared his throat loudly, and Merlin looked up.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, Xaken. Is Sora ready?"

"Not quite. Maybe four more minutes," replied Xaken.

"I see," said the old wizard, turning back to his book.

Xaken leaned back against a wall, his arms folded across his chest. Leon stepped in front of him.

"Xaken, I'm curious. What happened last night between you and Sora?"

Xaken smirked. "The girls know. Ask them, Leon. Then maybe you'd like to join us the next time."

The three women giggled and turned away when Leon shot them a confused stare. When he turned back, Xaken was gone and the front door had just closed.

He watched the little Nobody in the red coat come out into the open, and grinned under his hood. "Big mistake, Xakky-boy." He aimed one of his Nobody weapons at Xaken, which resembled a strange sort of gun. "It would be sooo easy."

Suddenly, Xaken seemed to be startled by something he could not see, and disappeared from sight, without his darkness powers!

"What the-crap!"

"Move and you die," said Xaken, pulling back the others hood and setting the curve of a long, black saber on the side of Xigbar's neck, slicing a thin line on his skin. "Hello, Number II."

The older Nobody chuckled, and raised both hands, his weapon disappearing. "Ok, you got me. Not!" Xaken tried quickly to slit Xigbar's throat, but he was too late as Xigbar used darkness to escape. "Fuck!"

Xaken sighed and made his way back to Merlin's house, his weapon disappearing. He reached the door, but then it opened, Sora, Goofy and Merlin stepping outside. "Good, you're here," said the old wizard. "I hope you are ready to go."

When Xaken nodded, a new, sleek black Gummi Ship appeared out of nowhere. "Here is your new ship. I wish each of you luck. Now, go! Go and stop them!" With a sweep of his wand, he pushed the three into the new Gummi Ship, which them started itself and took off, rocketing into the air, into space, away from Radiant Garden…

The Gummi Ship sluggishly traveled forward through the strange space between worlds, on a set course for The World That Never Was. Despite the importance of the task at hand, the friends were in no hurry to find and face Xemnas, for misery had befallen them. The loss of Donald, Chip, and Dale surrounded them like a horrible presence, thick and suffocating.

Goofy and Xaken sat at the ships controls, as Xaken had insisted that Sora sit at the back to be alone, and to mourn his friends. The Gummi Ship, kept running by the chipmunks Chip and Dale in the old ship, was now kept in working order by Merlin's magic. And Xaken, although supposed to help Goofy steer, sat in his chair in thought, the reflection of a small, black and red-haired, gray-eyed teen in red staring back at him. Since regaining his memories, the ghosts of Xaken's old "friends" haunted his thoughts, and each one passed by him in sequence.

The defeated Nobodies called out to him from beyond life, faces of comrades now passed: Zexion, the Cloaked Schemer, a small young man slightly older than Xaken, with blue emo-hair and a copycat fighting style. His motives were always shrouded in mystery. Vexen, the Chilly Academic, a Nobody who plotted to overthrow Xemnas, who wielded a shield in battle; Larxene, the Deadly Nymph, wielding darts and lightning magic, killed alongside Vexen and Marluxia, the Graceful Assassin, a deadly Nobody wielding a large flower scythe(and was tagged with the nickname 'The Grim Reaper's Homosexual Cousin'); Lexeaus, the Silent Hero, the largest Nobody wielding a giant tomahawk; Xaldin, the Whirlwind Lancer, the second-largest Nobody, violent and evil, wielding the powers of wind with six lances; and Roxas, the Key of Destiny, who was absorbed back into Sora. Roxas, Number XIII, who wielded the Nobody Keyblades Oathkeeper and Oblivion in battle.

And that left five Nobodies of the Organization still alive, the most dangerous of the group: Xigbar, the Freeshooter, aggressive and mysterious; Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, always the enigma, who killed three mutinous Nobodies, but keeping his own unknown motives; Luxord, the Gambler of Fate, blonde, English-accented, the Master of Games; Sai'x, the Luna Diviner, a wolf in sheep's clothing, insanely violent, wielding a giant hammer; and Xemnas, Number I, The Superior, leader of the Organization.

But the one thing ever-present in Xaken's mind, was the duty entrusted to him by Xemnas. The duty that would lead the Nobodies to Kingdom Hearts, the ultimate power, to regain the human hearts they had once lost and rule over the worlds. But to do this, Xaken would have to betray Sora and Goofy. They must die so the Nobodies can become whole again. After awhile he came out of his thoughts; they were passing by Twilight Town. Xaken turned his chair to face Goofy, his voice coming out small and sorrowful.

"Listen, Goofy. A-about your friends, D….D…" But he couldn't say the names. They wouldn't come out. "I didn't want to put you through this. If I had known the dangers involved, I would never have accepted your help."

The dog wiped fresh tears from his eyes, and nodded, although he wasn't looking at Xaken. "We don't blame you, you know. It was an accident."

"I know, but still, I can't help but feel responsible. I am truly sorry, Goofy."

And he meant it; but his gaze dropped to the floor, and he found that his throat blocked his voice. The deaths had only just begun. I am sorry…for everything. He turned in his chair to look back at Sora, curled up in his own chair with his gaze on the floor. "Goofy, I'm going to go talk to Sora." His voice came out in a whisper, and Goofy, his eyes still on the vast space in front of the ship, only nodded. Taking a deep breath, Xaken pushed himself to his feet, and walked past the control area to the back of the ship, keeping his steps steady despite the gentle rocking of the Gummi Ship.

Sora looked up when the Nobody took the seat across from him. Xaken figured it was better to give Sora his space at the moment. "How are you," he asked.

"I miss them," was the reply. Xaken nodded.

"I do, too. It's not the same without them, is it?" Sora shook his head. "But remember, we still need to defeat the Organization and stop them from getting Kingdom Hearts. And they have Kairi."

Sora looked up suddenly, his eyes wide. "I forgot about Kairi! They have her! We need to rescue her!"

"I know. And it's my belief that when we find Kairi, we'll find Riku." Xaken set his right foot on his left knee and leaned back in his chair as Sora asked, "You really think so?" Again, Xaken gave him a nod and peered out of the window. "Yes, I do. And we're nearly there now. You told me that The World That Never Was is blocked off, and you can't get in, right?" A nod was given in answer. "Then perhaps I can help us get in there." With a reassuring smile given to Sora, Xaken pressed his hand flat on the wall of the Ship as they approached the dark barrier to the Nobodies' world. The same kind of darkness leaked out, intangible, through the wall of the Ship and slipped over the vessel. As the Gummi Ship came up to the barrier, Sora and Goofy shut their eyes, expecting a crash. Instead, the Ship passed right through the barrier without incident, and Xaken withdrew his hand from the wall, the darkness around the Ship fading.

Xaken turned to Sora, knowing an explanation was in order. "I remembered that Xemnas had our world closed off to outsiders. The power of darkness acts like a pass to an electronic door. The barrier recognizes us and lets us in. And anybody who's with us," he finished with a sly smirk. Sora gave a weak smile, and straightened up in his chair.

"Who's left for us to fight?"

Xaken brought a gloved hand to scratch his chin. "If they are still alive, there will be five to fight. You know Axel, of course." He waited for Sora's nod before continuing. "And Luxord, the Gambler of Fate."

"Luxord…the Nobody we saw when we were with Jack Sparrow, remember, Goofy?" The dog gave a nod, focusing on a place to land the ship.

"There is also Xigbar, the Freeshooter. You will have met him already," he said in answer to Sora's questioning gaze, "Even if you haven't seen his face. He has a gray ponytail, one yellow eye and a scar over the missing eye. There is also Sai'x, the Luna Diviner. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security over his flowery title. He is completely insane, almost literally a wolf in sheep's clothing. And Xemnas, who you know already. Now, listen," he said, as Sora opened his mouth to speak, "I've though this over. I know these Nobodies better than they know me, and I know their strengths, and weaknesses. And that's why I know who we'll fight, separately."

Sora shook his head. "No, it's too dangerous. We should stick together." Goofy began to lower the Gummi Ship as he found a flat space to land on.

"We can cover more ground if we split up, Sora. You'll be with Goofy, and I'll be fine on my own. It will all be OK. I don't doubt you can beat them all. But we can reserve some of our strength with separate fights. That way we each won't be fighting as many people. Axel and Xigbar will be good for you to fight. Luxord and Sai'x are more dangerous, which is why I'll be fighting them."

"Are you taking them because you're afraid I can't do it," Sora asked without anger.

"No. I'm taking them because you are the one who must defeat Xemnas. If you fight Luxord and Sai'x, the fights will be harder and consume more of your energy, and fatigue you faster. It makes more sense for me to fight them. Then I can help weaken Xemnas so you can destroy him."

As the Gummi Ship touched down, Goofy shut the engine off and opened the side door. Immediately, Sora's Keyblade appeared in his hand with a flash of light, as if the weapon knew its master was in danger. Xaken's Nobody weapons, two black daggers, appeared in his hands as a warning bell went off in his head, some kind of ingrained warrior's sixth sense that told him enemies were nearby. Goofy took his shield from his back when his friends' weapons appeared, and they all ran out of the ship and looked around for the source of the danger.

They stood in a dark alley. In fact, the entire world was darkened. The sky overhead was dark, and the buildings looked abandoned. Sora took a step forward, and then, all of a sudden, they were surrounded. Flat black shadows slid across the ground, circling around them. "Sora!" The cry from above made them look up. On the roof of a building stood a man in an Organization coat with his hood up, so they couldn't see his face. He was staring at them, they could tell, his fists clenched at his sides. Goofy was the first to speak.

"Is that an Organization member?"

"No," said Xaken. "I can recognize a Nobody from their build. He isn't familiar, and his stance is completely off. He's a different kind of confident. That's not a Nobody."

"Then who is it?"

"That was Ansem's voice."

Sora's quiet statement clearly startled Goofy, and Xaken was merely curious. "Ansem? I thought you destroyed him?" Sora was staring up at the man, while Neoshadows rose up from the ground around them.

"I thought we did. But I recognize it, that's his voice. What is he doing here?" Before Sora could finish his question, Ansem or whoever it was, was sinking into a portal of darkness, and before they could say anything, the Neoshadows rushed in at them.

The first Neoshadow stopped before Xaken, and slashed from left to right with the claws on its right hand. He merely stepped back, and brought the dagger in his left hand down, then slashed straight up at the hand passed in front of him, severing half of its hand. The Heartless grabbed its ruined hand and danced about in a silent cry of agony, black goo and shadows leaking from the wound. Xaken thought, Left dagger longsword, and it immediately changed its' form, a pommel and crosspiece forming on the hilt, the blade thinning and stretching out…right into the Neoshadows' chest and piercing where a heart should be. The creature gave an audible wail and disappeared in a wisp of shadows.

Goofy's battle method was less graceful, but equally as efficient. As the first Neoshadow came on in a bull-rush, he brought his shield-arm up and shield-smashed the creature in the face. It stepped back, dazed, and he reached out and grabbed it by the neck, throwing it to the ground. Hopping into the air, he brought his shield under him and landed on the Neoshadow, it disappearing in a puff of shadows. Getting to his feet, he noticed another in the peripheral's of his vision, and spun on his heels, slicing the razor-sharp edge of his shield across the sneaking Neoshadow's throat, instantly dropping the Heartless to the ground…and into the realm of death.

The deadly Oblivion Keyblade was in Sora's possession now, and he came at his enemies in a fearless head-to-head battle. When the first Neoshadow had attacked Xaken, he ran straight at the majority and leapt high into the air, bringing the Keyblade up over his head and slicing straight down, splitting a Neoshadow in half before it knew what hit it. As it disappeared, he turned his torso to the right, his Keyblade in his right hand, and punched another in the face with the back end of the weapon. Another appeared in front of him, claws poised to attack, so he turned back to the front and stabbed it in the chest as a clawed hand slashed his stomach. Trickles of blood ran under his shirt, but he ignored it as he spun back to the right, this time slashing the punched Heartless across the throat, decapitating it.

That's when he noticed he was surrounded. They were now focusing on him, instead of the others. Xaken and Goofy ran forward to help as the cluster of Heartless attacked. Sora had all he could handle trying to ward off two Neoshadows, spinning and slashing with his Keyblade, but their claws only met the blunt parts of the weapon. Goofy defended against three that tried to break his shield by attacking it directly. The dog couldn't get through their offense to attack. Wielding dual hammers, Xaken thought to break through the crowd with strong, wide sweeps, but the Heartless kept clear of him, only attacking when they saw through his guard, managing to keep him from gaining ground while they stood theirs and defended themselves.

As Sora tried to keep the two attacking Neoshadows at bay, he thought of merging with Goofy to take his Valor form. Donald was gone, so he couldn't access his Wisdom or Master forms. But Goofy was too occupied to get close to him. A third Neoshadow rose from the ground and advanced on him. Taking a wild swing at one of the two Neoshadows, he missed by an inch, overbalanced, and the two creatures slashed his weapon-arm and across one of his eyes, leaving three thin streaks of red and closing it. The third rushed in, and Sora knew that it was going to rip him apart as his torn arm dropped slowly lower.

Suddenly, a red and white wheel, spiked and set on fire, whistled through the air. It ripped through one of the Neoshadows, severing its top half from its lower half. As the weapon spun away, a second came in, ripping the second Neoshadows' face apart and cutting the third's head in half. The second spiky wheel swung away, and Sora, amazed, looked up to the rooftops as Axel caught his second weapon, looking down at the fighters. "Don't look so surprised. We can't let these creatures ruin our fun, can we?" The spiky-haired nobody disappeared into the darkness, and Sora's mind was back on the battle. The three Neoshadows attacking Goofy were beginning to crack through his strong shield, and he could tell his arms were starting to tire and go numb from the relentless, jarring blows. Xaken's hammers had now become axes, but the seven Nobodies attacking him were still keeping their distance. Sora thought that the Neoshadows were starting to learn from the battle. Xaken was becoming more injured by the second. One Neoshadow ripped into his inner thigh, and another slashed him across the small of his back.

Switching his Keyblade from his right hand to his left, he raised his good arm and cast Curaga over himself. His wounds healed almost fully, but his eye was still closed. He could move his right arm again, but the cuts to his chest, face and arm were now scars; Curaga did not heal scars. Taking his Keyblade in both hands, Sora rushed at the Neoshadows attacking Goofy, who scattered. Bringing his battered shield into an offensive position, Sora and Goofy went on the attack, quickly dispatching the Neoshadows and turning to help Xaken.

The Nobody was struggling even more to fight the Heartless, because new ones had appeared to join the fight. A large, rabid dog-like Heartless came from the ground and latched its powerful teeth onto Xaken's right shoulder, taking him down to a knee. Shadows had come up and held onto his leg and arms, holding him down as the Neoshadows buried him. On instinct, Sora quickly summoned his ability to draw another into his being; Goofy flew towards Sora and merged with him in a flash of bright light; Sora now stood alone, looking the same, but his clothes had become bright red and black and had strange symbols. He now held two Keyblades; the black Oblivion and the white Oathkeeper. He felt strong power course through his body, eliminating fatigue and pain. He rushed towards the group of Heartless with new speed, and tore into the group in an enraged frenzy of violence.

What little resistance the surprised creatures put up was quickly shattered. Black and white blurs spun around the fighting teenager, ripping through Heartless bodies almost faster than they could see. Sora dipped, spun, and hopped, his body changing positions and stances faster than conscious thought. The Neoshadows crumpled under the attack, which came on so viciously that at several moments, Sora's feet hovered over the ground, his momentum keeping him in the air to deliver punishing attacks from above, before dropping low to the ground for sweeping attacks aimed at the legs or abdomen, and taking out all of the smaller Shadow Heartless. Bodies were tossed into the air, kicked once, twice, slammed to the ground with the blunt end of a weapon and stabbed in the chest or the throat. Though there weren't many of the Heartless, Sora's movements were so fast that almost all of the Heartless were attacked several times before death came for them. Finally, two were left.

He spun in a complete circle with Oblivion low, drawing the blade across the ground to create sparks, and sweeping the blade upward, knocking the Neoshadow into the air. Both weapons were brought high and the sharp parts of the Keyblades dug deeply into the Heartless' torso, slamming the unfortunate create into the ground. He quickly released both weapon, crossed his arms, grabbed the hilts with the other hand, and with great strength, pulled his arms from their crossed position. The Neoshadow was ripped apart, both halves flying into the air and disappearing. The dog Heartless, seeing all of this, promptly released Xaken, wet itself, and tried to run. A flying black Keyblade sunk into the back of its head and sent it skidding across the ground before it died.

With a second flash of light, Goofy reappeared and Sora's clothes were normal again. He felt drained, exhausted, but he had to check on Xaken. Kneeling down, he saw with a gasp that the Nobody was so badly wounded, he had been rendered unconscious, his weapons gone. But amazingly, little sparks of darkness seemed to be jumping across his body, from wound to wound, healing him, but slowly. He would be out for awhile. As Goofy set his shield on his back and picked up Xaken to carry him, the shield fell apart, pieces hitting the ground. He gave a loud groan at the worst luck at the worst time, but Sora shook his head. "Don't worry, we have another." Sora took out the first shield Goofy had when he joined Sora, which he'd kept the entire time. Goofy smiled as he was reunited with the admittedly weaker shield, but given the circumstances, he was happy to have his old shield back.

"I think Xaken will be OK, Sora," said Goofy, "Because it looks like he's healing himself. Now, come on, we need to keep moving." Sora nodded, and led the way down the dark street, to where, he did not know. As they moved past a small area with a large and orange, square-shaped metal box, more Heartless rose to intercept them. Not wanting to be slowed down, they broke into a run, slashing any Heartless that got too close and ignoring the rest, which gave up the chase when they got too far away. Soon they came to a humongous, dark castle that reached up into the sky. And above it, clearly visible and casting its light on the castle was Kingdom Hearts in the sky! They tried to rush into the door, but found a barrier similar to the one around the world. Sora checked Xaken, but he was still unconscious; he would be of no help. He looked around, trying to find something to help; and there, hidden away in a small, dark corner, a swirling hole of black and green. Sora had seen one before; it was a portal. He remembered one in Twilight Town that they probably could have used to get to The World That Never Was. He motioned to Goofy, and they ran towards the portal, sucked into the black.

Suddenly, they found themselves in the strangest place. Swirling blue light was all around them; in front, above, to the sides, and below. And they seemed to be standing on a solid floor of air. They seemed to be in a hallway, and ran down to its end. There, they saw it split up into two other ways; a white hallway and a red hallway. He could only guess one was to Twilight Town. The other had to lead into the castle. But which one went to where?

And once again, they found themselves surrounded. Sora growled in defiance and brought his Keyblade up as the Nobodies called Dusks formed a tight circle around them. "Not again! When will it stop?" Goofy gently set Xaken down between them and brought his shield out, strapping it to his arm. "Come on! Try and stop us!" As if understanding his words, the first Dusk started forward, not towards Goofy, but directly at Xaken. Sora intercepted the Dusk and slashed at its chest, but the infernal thing jumped nimbly back. "It's Xaken they want," shouted Sora, as another made an attempt, and Sora slashed its head. The Dusk disappeared in a blink of white light.

They were exhausted, half-injured, and they ached in their joints and muscles. More and more Dusks seemed to be appearing, blocking all exits, and it seemed as if they had fallen into a hopeless situation. They would not be able to fight so many Nobodies and still continue. Xaken was stirring feebly, but his healing was only half-done and he didn't look like he had the strength to even raise his head. The tip of the Keyblade was again beginning to drop, and Goofy couldn't keep his shield-arm up. It finally looked like the end for them.

"Well, well! Finally got yourselves in too deep, haven't you?" Sora turned in disbelief, knowing that familiar, smirking voice. Axel was walking towards the group of Nobodies and fighters, smirking at Sora. "Axel! Come to fight?" Sora asked, challenging the Nobody. "Yes." As he neared, one Dusk turned and tried to slash Axel. Sora blinked in surprise as Axel easily jumped over the group and landed next to Sora. Disbelieving at first, he brought his Keyblade up with a wicked grin, touched by Axel's actions, who took out his unique weapons. The Dusks came on, and the three fought them off as they came. "I wish they were still on my side," said Axel.

"Feeling a little regret?" asked Sora.

Axel smirked at the comment, and jumped over the Nobodies again. "Naw, watch this. Come here, you little bastards!"

The Dusks all turned and formed a circle around the stronger Nobody, who screamed out in anger as darkness and fire exploded outward from his being, and instantly destroyed over a hundred Dusks, leaving Sora, Goofy and Xaken untouched. When it faded, Axel was lying on the ground, weakened and dying, shadowstuff raising from his body into the air.

The attack never touched Sora, Goofy or Xaken, and Sora ran forward and knelt down next to Axel, his eye wide. "Axel…you're dying." The Nobody looked up at Sora and smirked. "Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack." He chuckled, but then winced at a stab of pain. "Sora, listen. The white hallway will take you into the castle. Kairi is in there. I'm sorry for what I did." He looked into Sora's eyes. "You remind me of him. Roxas." He gave a few, weak coughs, and a small chuckle. "He used to make me feel…like I had a heart. You know, it's funny. You make me feel…the same way." Axel turned his gaze upward, and his eyes closed as his body fell apart, becoming shadow that rose upward and faded away, leaving behind a small attachment for Sora's Keyblade that resembled Axel's weapons.

Sora picked up the attachment and got to his feet, brushing away the tears from the touching and overwhelming moment. He turned back to Goofy, who had picked up Xaken and held him in front of him. His healing was nearly done, and Sora brushed a bit of the Nobodies' bushy hair from his face. Putting the new attachment in a pocket with the others, Sora led Goofy down the hallway of swirling white light.

After they exited the portal, they found themselves in a large room of white and silver, with the Nobody symbols everywhere. They stood on a platform, and could see several more above them. However, there were no walkways between them. "How do we get to the platforms?" Confused, Sora turned to Goofy, and let out a small gasp, a smile growing on his face as a pair of gray eyes stared right into his; Xaken had finally awoken. "Welcome back," said Sora. Xaken smiled, and looked up to the platforms.

"There are invisible walkways between the paths, but they are narrow. When you step on one, prismatic light appears under your foot to tell you where to step next. And on the third platform, you will find something that will be useful to you." He stretched his arms and legs, and, despite Goofy's concerns, slid from the dog's arms and stood up. "I've almost finished healing, and I feel fine. You will need what I have to show you, though. And be careful. Nobodies will pop up almost everywhere in here." Sora nodded, and stepped aside. "Show us the way?" Xaken smiled, and walked off of the platform.

At first he appeared to be standing on nothing but air. But then, honeycomb-shaped lights appeared under his feet, illuminating a few steps of the path in front and behind him. Sora and Goofy followed, and the Nobody led them up to the second platform. But as they walked, a group of Nobodies appeared in flashes of light. These Nobodies had almost human shapes, with shrouded eyes and carrying swords. "Samurai", shouted Sora, as he got into his normal battle stance with the Keyblade, Xaken's weapons appeared in his hands, and Goofy strapped his shield to his arm. Xaken thought of katanas, and his daggers instantly changed into the swords that the samurai wielded. One Samurai rushed straight at him and slashed down, from left to right, diagonally. Xaken raised his left sword and blocked the attack, stabbing out with his right sword, which plunged into its chest, killing it.

Goofy shouldered three Samurai off the platform, then threw his shield at them like a boomerang, slicing through each as they twisted in midair, trying to use darkness to get back on the platform. Each disappeared in a flash of light.

One snuck up behind Goofy and tried to decapitate him, but it was the Samurai who was decapitated by Sora, who spun halfway to the right, reversed and whipped his Keyblade across his body, slashing through another Samurai.

Xaken took care of the last Nobody. His weapons melded together, becoming a giant hammer, which he used to smash the last Samurai into the ground. His weapons and Sora's Keyblade disappeared, Goofy putting his shield on his back. They continued up to the second platform, and xaken moved around the edge to find the next bridge.

"Found it." Xaken led them up the bridge, and several Dusks appeared. Goofy strapped his shield to his arm and quickly slashed and smashed his way through the little group, while the others continued on ahead. Sora saw a chest on the third platform, and looked to Xaken, who nodded. He rushed over and found two Hi Potions. He grabbed one and drank. He felt power rush through his body, healing his wounds, aches, and fatigue.

"Goofy, catch!" he yelled, throwing it to the dog. Goofy caught the bottle and broke the top on a Dusks head, downing it in one. Revitalized, he grabbed the remaining Dusk by the head, and snapped its neck. He ran up the bridge to join the other two. They made it up to a floor above the third platform with no trouble, and found a door. They ran through it, and came to a strange room with four raised, stair-like platforms, each with four markers, except for the fourth, with two markers. Sora reached one near him, and realized they weren't markers; they were the graves of the Nobodies. Most had red symbols on the ground in front of the markers. Five did not. He found the grave with Luxord's name on it.

"Careful, Sora," said Xaken, "The blue means he is still alive, and that 'grave' is a direct portal to his room. Don't touch it. Luxord is mine," said Xaken, his eyes gleaming.

Sora stepped off to the side as Xaken strode up to the grave. "See you in a few," he said, and disappeared when he touched the marker. Sora looked to Goofy. "Should we wait, or continue ahead?"

"Let's continue. Xaken will catch up when he's done."

Sora nodded, and they headed up the platforms. The two graves read 'Number I, Xemnas, The Superior', and 'Number VIX, Xaken, The Hidden Nobody'. Sora raised a brow at the title, and then walked through the door, into a large room. Suddenly, the floor gave a shudder, and began to rise into the air.

"A trap?" asked Sora.

A voice answered him. "Yes."

??

Xaken came to an empty room, high glass panes showing absolute darkness outside. He walked down a slight slope in the room, and heard a voice with an English accent behind him. "You? Where's the Keyblader?"

Xaken smirked, and turned to face Luxord, the Gambler of Fate, a tall man with very short blonde hair and a goatee. "I do apologize," he said in a magnificent imitation of Luxord, "But he isn't available." Two black daggers appears in his palms, which then became a single greataxe. "It's just you and me."

Luxord returned the smirk, running his fingers through his goatee. "Really? You would turn against us? Your brothers?" He slipped a hand into his pocket, and took out a deck of playing cards.

"Turn against you? I suppose Xemnas hasn't told you the whole plan."

"Plan?" Luxord flipped the top of the box open, sliding the deck out into his palm. "The only plan here is the one revolving around the Keyblader, and Kingdom Hearts. But it seems to me that you have befriended him. Sorry, but you have to die now."

Xaken chuckled. Luxord doesn't know...Xemnas, you were telling the truth? So they think that I am a traitor…Xemnas, you truly meant to deceive them? Then what does that make me?

Yesterday

Xaken saw Axel and Xemnas retreating into the shadows…or, that's what it looked like. Another portal of darkness opened behind him, and Xemnas stepped out, slipping his arms around Xaken. "It's time for you to know the true plan, Xaken."

Xaken stiffened at his touch, keeping his gaze straight ahead. What was Xemnas planning? "The true plan?"

"Yes. That only you and I will be the ones to regain our human hearts," said Xemnas, running a finger on Xaken's chest.

Xaken's eyes widened, not from Xemnas' actions, but his words. "Only us?"

He heard Xemnas chuckle, and the taller Nobody bent down so his mouth was close to Xaken's ear. "I want you to fight beside the Keyblader. I want you to destroy the others. You and I, we can gain power. And then…" Xemna's lips curled into a smirk. "If you succeed, I will offer myself to you, when the Keyblader is dead."

Xaken felt the heat rise in his face, and new that he had gained a few shades of red. He did not want Sora to die, but then he truly wanted to regain his heart and become whole again. And Xemnas…was what he was saying true? "And none of the others know this?"

Xemnas spun Xaken around, a frown on his face. "There is a small problem. Sai'x does know about the plan. I do not know how he found out, but he does not let me get near enough to destroy him. He will try to kill you. This is why _you _must be the one to fight him. Convince the Keyblader. Make up some sort of lie. He should believe you."

"Then Kingdom Hearts is nearly complete?"

"Almost."

"But…I don't want to harm Sora," said Xaken.

Xemnas sighed, and put a hand on Xaken's shoulder. "I am afraid you will have to."

Xaken's eyes grew wider and wider as Xemnas told him what he had planned, and what he wanted Xaken to do, and how to do it. It was something that Xaken had never heard of, and would never have dreamed could be possible. But then, he did not know as much as Xemnas knew, regarding the Keyblade. And the more Xemnas explained, the more it made sense.

It would not be easy, and it would take incredible skill to time it right, to get it to work at exactly the right time. And it would require Xaken to use all of his skill to act and deceive. But then, such things came naturally to Xaken. It was how he had survived this long.

When Xemnas had finally finished explaining, Xaken still had some misgivings, and perhaps Xemnas understood this, as he drew the smaller Nobody closer to capture Xaken's lips with his own. Xaken's eyes widened, and then closed. But even as he leaned into the kiss, he felt Xemnas beginning to fade away in a portal of darkness, his voice lingering on.

"It won't be long now. Do the job properly, and you will be rewarded. Fail, and you will wish for death when it won't come."

--

A/N: And that's Part 3-A. 3-B should be the end, unless it goes on too long, then I'll make it 3-C. But most likely, the next chapter will be the last. 'Til then, see ya!


	4. Xaken's Goodbye: The End is the Start

Hidden Nobody

**Hidden Nobody**

**Part 3-B**

A/N: The final chapter of Hidden Nobody. I hope the ending is good.

Disclaimer: Not mine, blah blah, Kingdom Hearts and so on, etc. etc.

--

Elevator Room

A man with gray hair in a ponytail and a yellow eye was standing up on a balcony when the floor stopped rising. His other eye was covered by a patch, which did not completely cover a long scar. He was hold two strange-looking weapons, like giant guns. And again, they were surrounded by Nobodies, which "stood" sideways in the air.

"Who are you?" asked Sora.

"I am Number II. Xigbar the Freeshooter. Dragoons! Kill them!" yelled the scarred man.

"Sora, get him! I'll hold them off!" As the Dragoons began to move, warping through the air, Xigbar leapt from the balcony, him and the Dragoons firing off bullets of energy at Sora. Goofy put his shield in front of Sora, blocking the bullets. Sora attached the Oblivion attachment to the Keyblade, which turned black, with a twisted handguard and blade. He raised the Keyblade over his head.

"Thunder!" Energy gathered over Xigbar, and threw itself down at him in bolts of lightning. The Freeshooter warped away as Goofy hurled his shield at the Dragoons. More appeared as the shield tore through them, firing at Sora, who whipped the Keyblade through the air, batting away the bullets. Xigbar appeared behind Sora and elbowed him in the back of the head, picked him up, and threw him.

Two Dragoons appeared above Sora, who twisted horizontally in the air, and fired bullets into his back, slamming him to the floor. Goofy caught his shield as it spun back to him, like a boomerang, and shield-smashed Xigbar, who warped back up to the balcony. The Dragoons above Sora dove down at him as Zigbar shot a hail of energy bullets down at the elevator-like floor, and Sora held his hand out to Goofy, who dashed toward him.

Goofy flew toward Sora, who was surrounded by a cocoon of bright light. Xigbar and the Dragoons shielded their eyes, and when the light faded, Sora's clothes had changed to red and black, and he now held Oblivion and a second Keyblade, which the attachment Axel had left behind for him. He sprung to his feet and rushed up to meet the Dragoons, who took aim with their guns. Firing at him, he batted their bullets away with his Keyblades, and thrust his Keyblades up and out, ripping the Dragoons apart.

More appeared in midair, and now Sora twisted and turned, thrusting out with Oblivion while slashing off to his left with the flame Keyblade, then spun over to slash outward with Oblivion at another Dragoon. Xigbar fired his guns, more energy bullets arcing and then raining down at Sora, who began to spin at a high speed, his Keyblades held out, blocking off the energy bullets, his body a red and black blur.

Luxord's Room

Luxord raised his arms, and a large, strange box appeared, which he flung at Xaken. Xaken's black daggers, which he turned into a pair of twin katanas with his thoughts, dove to the side to avoid the tumbling box, rolling to his feet and throwing one katana at Luxord, who side-stepped it. Xaken rushed in, and heard a thumping behind him. The box had switched direction and now came back for him. He blurred his body to fade away, appearing right in front of Luxord, the box still chasing him. Luxord tried to backhand him, but Xaken ducked, then jumped over him, landing behind The Gambler of Fate, who was now the target for the box. However, it passed right through Luxord and rolled over Xaken, who was now trapped inside.

Everything was pitch black. He didn't know what was happening, all he felt was intense pain. He struggled powerfully against the force of the box, breaking it apart and landing on his knees, his body aching and covered in bruises. He got to his feet, and turned to slash Luxord as the taller Nobody rushed at him, then jumped back at the tip of Xaken's katana ripped a hole in his coat and cut half an inch into his skin.

Luxord hissed in pain, and now strange Nobodies, juggling cards, appeared from nowhere. Xaken smirked and put his fingers to his mouth, blowing out a sharp whistle. Dusks appeared in flashes of light, and rushed at the Jugglers, who sent their cards whizzing sinisterly through the air, slicing easily through the Dusks. Xaken's other weapon appeared in his free hand and he ran at Luxord, both blades whistling through the air in an even sequence before him, while Luxord easily dodged and ducked, laughing at Xaken.

One Juggler threw a card at Xaken, which grew in size and density and rammed into his back. Luxord jumped to the side as Xaken rammed into a wall, lights popping in front of his eyes as the wind was knocked out of him. He staggered away from the wall, gasping for breath as three Jugglers appeared and threw cards at him like throwing stars. He blew the cards away with one blade and the other turned into a saber, which he used to cut through them. Luxord came from nowhere, but Xaken, ready for him, reversed a katana, placing the blade to his chest, then jabbed his arm outward, ramming the butt of his weapon into Luxord's nose, which broke like frail glass. Unfazed, Luxord returned the attack by slamming his knuckles into Xaken's cheek, knocking the small Nobody backward.

Xaken felt his shoulder blades hit the floor, he rolled back and then stopped himself, skidding on his knuckles and feet to a stop. With a roar of rage, he leapt up, into the air, and dove down at Luxord, thrusting his blades out, side by side and an inch apart. When Luxord sidestepped him, he aimed to knee Xaken in the stomach, but the smaller Nobody blurred out of sight again, and reappeared five feet from Luxord…invisible.

"Ahh…using that curious power that got you your nickname, I see. But it won't help you here!"

Luxord threw out another rolling box, which aimed itself right for the invisible Xaken.

"Shit!"

Xaken threw himself out of the way, then dashed at Luxord, his steps invisible. But it was when he drew breath that Luxord heard him, and he threw his arm out, catching Xaken by the throat. Easily lifting him into the air, Luxord squeezed Xaken's neck, cutting off his air supply. A black sword dropped to the ground, and Xaken slowly began to appear, trying to pull Luxord's hand off of him.

The Gambler of Fate raised his arm and slammed Xaken down onto the floor, kneeling next to him with a grin. "Sorry about this, comrade. But we can't have you mucking things up for us, can we, you little faker? You and your boy-toy, the Keyblade wielder. Nobodies don't have hearts…and they don't have a conscience. Die." Luxord squeezed harder, completely cutting off Xaken's air supply, and now darkness was gathering in his vision as he slowly suffocated, with a sensation of falling…

Xigbar's Elevator

Sora slowed to a stop after Xigbar stopped raining down energy bullets, more Dragoons appearing as Xigbar stayed up to the safety of his balcony. But Sora reached the end of his patience. He leapt straight up at Xigbar, but bounced back as he hit an invisible barrier. With a growl of defiance, he leapt back up and slammed his Keyblades into the barrier, jerking them from side to side, thrusting, and slashing in all directions. He ripped the barrier apart and double-jumped in midair, gathering energy under his feet to form a floating floor, and leapt off of it at a stunned Xigbar.

He slammed the flat side of Oblivion into the side of Xigbar's head, lights popping behind Xigbar's eyes as he staggered back. In midair, Sora twisted around and put his heel onto Xigbar's chest, knocking him back a few more feet. Sora landed on the rail of the balcony and leapt forward, ramming his forehead into Xigbar's face, who yelled out as he felt his nose cave in. As they both fell to the floor, Sora, on top of Xigbar, began punching every inch of him he could reach with the handguards of his Keyblades.

Xigbar raised his knee and kicked Sora forward, off of his body, and clambered to his feet. Sora planted the hilt of Oblivion on the floor and flipped onto his feet, crouched, and spun his torso to the left, slashing with the flame Keyblade as Xigbar got to his feet. The Keyblade slashed into the back of Xigbar's legs, who fell with a scream. Sora turned back around, then leaned straight back, planting both Keyblades into Xigbar's chest. The Nobody cried out in pain, and Sora pushed himself straight up, handstanding with his Keyblades. With perfect balance, he raised the flame Keyblade, and charged magic into the weapon. He roared in rage, a scream that mingled with Xigbar's, and slammed the Keyblade into Xigbar's face as fire exploded from the top and spread across the Freeshooter's body. Sora pulled his second Keyblade free as he felt his Valor form beginning to weaken. He planted the Flame Keyblade on the ground next to Xigbar and pushed away, landing on his feet and Goofy split from his body, returning him to normal, the flame Keyblade disappearing. Wisps of shadowstuff rose from Xigbar's body as he screamed in agony, then broke apart, fading into nothing.

Panting, Sora looked up at Goofy, who nodded, and, as he was about to put his old shield away, it broke apart, weakened from the powerful Dragoon's attacks. He sighed and slapped his hand to his face in disbelief, as the Keyblade disappeared.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can find you a new one. How do you think Xaken's doing?"

Luxord's Room

Xaken gasped out, slowly choking to death, his hand scrabbling the ground, clawing for his weapon, which lay seven feet away. Above him, Luxord chuckled, and shook his head. "You have no chance.

"Poor, deluded Xaken. We all knew you were different. We all knew you would fail. You just don't have the 'heart'." Luxord chuckled at his own wit. "See, me, Sai'x, Xigbar, and The Superior, we're the only ones left. We were just better than the others. We will be the ones to regain our hearts. But you, little one, you will get nothing.

"You don't even know what's really going on, do you? The Superior warned us you were coming. He told us that you were going to betray us. We were ready for you. We prepared to _kill_ you. And I…I'm taking deep, wonderful pleasure that I have the good fortune to finish you off myself. Selfish? Maybe. I always hated you."

Xaken could feel his life slipping away. He could already see the darkness leaving his body, trailing up into the air and away in small, tiny wisps. The moment, he knew, was coming.

"What have you ever contributed to the Organization? What have you ever done for us? You never laid your life down for us. You hung back, The Superior's little favorite, while we went off to fight the Keyblader, and died for it. We've lost many comrades, no thanks to you. Shit, you didn't even do any of the cleaning or cooking or anything! Skulking around the castle like that emo lunatic, Zexion." Luxord began to squeeze harder, wanting to feel Xaken's throat cave beneath his fingers.

"So, I give you your reward. For all that you've done for us, I give you what you've earned: Nothing, which is what awaits you! Now you can feel the horror our friends have felt as they die-!"

Luxord's mouth hung open, in a silent scream of pain, ragged little gasps escaping his lips. A long, thin black sword had extended upward, piercing him through the diaphragm. Xaken felt Luxord's hand slacken and gripped, pulling it from his throat.

"Surprised? You forgot my second weapon, which I turned into 'brass' knuckles so you wouldn't notice. I waited until you were at your most confident, so I could have the…now, how did you say it? Oh, yes. The _'pleasure'_ and _'good fortune'_ of 'finishing you off myself.' Oh, and by the way…"

Xaken pushed forward, hard, with his blade, ripping it down through Luxord's chest, stomach, and crotch, holding out his free hand. His other blade flew into his waiting hand, and he slashed sideways with it, lopping off Luxord's head. The Gambler of Fate immediately broke into wisps of shadow that disappeared.

"You talk too much."

Xaken got to his feet, and looked around at the Dragoons who had been watching. They silently screamed as one and disappeared, leaving Xaken alone.

"Cowards," he said as he disappeared though a portal of darkness.

Xigbar's Elevator

"How do you think Xaken's doing," Sora was asking, as Xaken appeared right behind him.

"Pretty damn well, I think," he said.

Sora turned at the sound of the voice, and shouted out, a smile on his face. "Xaken! So you beat Xigbar?" Xaken nodded, his weapons disappearing.

"Yeah. It wasn't too hard. If Xigbar's defeated, that leaves Sai'x and Xemnas as the last ones. Sai'x will be as hard as Xemnas, so I'll help you out with him." Xaken, smirking, looked around at Goofy, and noticed his shield was missing. "Goofy, where's your shield?"

"It broke after the fight," he said.

"Shit. That's not good. Well…maybe we can find another one."

"That's what I said," Sora told him.

Xaken nodded, and beckoned them closer. "Come here." He put a hand on each of their shoulders, and used the darkness to take them to the Nobodies tombstones. The last one that was open read 'Sai'x the Luna Diviner'. Xaken looked to Goofy. "If you don't have a shield, then maybe you should hang back. You should be safe in here while Sora and I beat down Sai'x."

Goofy didn't like it much, but he nodded and went to sit against the wall. Xaken turned to Sora, nodded, and took his hand, pulling him towards the marker. As they touched it, they disappeared, surrounded by darkness.

??

After the darkness disappeared, they found themselves in a large, empty room. Oblivion appeared in Sora's hand as Xaken's Hidden Weapons appeared in his, and they looked around.

"We're in Sai'x's room. Be careful, Sora. Sai'x is violent, aggressive, and completely insane. He's a rabid animal, and I don't think he'll be as easy as Xigbar and Luxord." Minutes passed, and nothing happened. "Damn it, where is he? This is making me nervous.

??

Two men in identical black coats stood side by side. The taller had his hood up, his arms folded across his chest. The shorter of the two had shoulder-length blue hair, yellow eyes, and a large X-shaped scar on his face.

"They are in your room now. Aren't you going to go and fight them," the hooded one asked.

"As long as we're clear. I get to kill them both," replied Sai'x. "I will kill the traitor, Xemnas."

The hooded man nodded, and the other, Sai'x, disappeared in a portal of darkness. Xemnas chuckled under his hood. "The only one dieing here, today, is you, Sai'x." Xemnas reached up, and pulled his hood from his face, his silver hair falling down to his shoulders, a smirk on his handsome face. He turned around to face a large, heart-shaped yellow light in the sky. "Kingdom Hearts is almost complete. I am counting on you, Xaken."

Sai'x's Room

"Maybe he doesn't know we're here?" offered Sora, but Xaken shook his head.

"I doubt it. He knows. He's toying with us. Trying to make us nervous. It's working," said Xaken, his eyes darting around nervously. "Sai'x is probably the second-strongest Nobody. He could not easily beat me, but he _could_ beat me. He knows that, too. I think I'll be the first one he targets for-GET DOWN!"

Xaken leapt upon Sora and shoved him down to the floor, just in time to dodge a giant hammer that whirled over their heads and smashed into the wall, imbedding itself. Xaken pulled Sora back up as the Keyblade, in Oblivion form, appeared in Sora's hands at the same time Xaken's weapons phased into existence, and with a thought became a pair of giant warhammers. Looking around for their attacker, which Sora mistakenly took to be a Berserker at first, they saw the blue-haired and scarred Sai'x standing on the hilt of his hammer, with his arms folded across his chest, grinning like a maniac.

"So glad you both could make it. Actually, I'm surprised you got this far, Xaken, even with the Keyblader's help." Sora looked over at Xaken, who shrugged. "It stops here, though," said the dangerous Nobody, his tone turning grim. "Both of you are going to die. Berserkers, to me!"

Three of the hulking Berserkers appeared around Sai'x, saw the two fighters, and raised their heavy hammers in rage, lumbering towards the two as Sai'x, laughing maniacally, speeded across the room to recover his own hammer. "Sora, you take Sai'x," yelled Xaken, "And I'll take these weaklings!"

Xaken rushed towards the oncoming Berserkers, jumping into the air to dodge a clumsy maneuver from one that smashed its hammer into the ground. A second hammer screamed in from the side, and Xaken crossed both of his own in front of himself in an 'X' shape. The Berserker hammer hit both of his and drove him off to the side, into the waiting hand of the third Berserker. _They're fighting as a team? When did they get so smart?_ The crushing hand felt like a giant steel bar, slowly shrinking and squeezing. Xaken fought down a rise of panic and called upon his darkness ability, teleporting through a black portal, directly above the offending Berserker's head. He raised both warhammers and slammed them down on top of its head, sending it face-first into the floor.

Sora watched Xaken's fight until Sai'x removed his hammer from the wall and swung it sideways at Sora. He jumped up to avoid the thing, planting his hand on the weapon and springing forward at Sai'x. Twisting himself in midair, he righted his body and raised his Keyblade to bring it in a downward slash. Impossibly fast, Sai'x pulled his hammer back and blocked the attack with the bulk of the weapon, smirking.

"Not so easy."

Sai'x swung his sword up at Sora from under him, knocking him up into the air. As he saw the hammer rise up from his upside-down position, he quickly flipped himself upright, moving his Keyblade to his left. As the hammer descended, he slammed the shaft of his Keyblade into it with a hard swing to the side, propelling himself out of harms' way to land safely on his feet as the hammer smashed into the ground. Sai'x dislodged it with a snarl.

"Lucky bastard!"

The Berserker hit the floor just as Sai'x launched the first attack. The Nobody struggled to get to its feet as the other two stormed towards Xaken. With a smirk, he dashed in between the two Berserkers, pulling his hammers in and then whipping them out. Two dull thuds signaled the warhammers connecting with the Berserker's legs, sending them to their knees in pain. Xaken leapt up to the left one and spun in midair, slamming a hammer into the side of its head. When he landed, he jumped towards the first one he attacked, raising both hammers to finish it off. But with surprising speed, it swung its hammer towards the tiny Nobody, who blocked barely in time to get slammed up against a wall and fall to the floor, groaning and swearing.

He got back to his feet, his warhammers shifting and blurring, until they became a pair of scimitars. He grinned wickedly at the thought of ripping some holes in the bodies of the Berserkers. He came rushing in, both blades wailing away, in vicious arcing swipes and wide slashes, like nothing so much as a wall of black lightning in front of his body.

The first Berserker he came upon didn't even know that he had slashed fifteen gashes into its leg, until it fell with a silent roar, only to be silenced with a sword in its throat. A hammer came screaming from behind, and Xaken backflipped over it, spun in midair, and tore into the chest of this Nobody, laughing madly. It fell to its back and disappeared, leaving for the realm of death. That left one more.

As Xaken landed on the floor and turned to the last Nobody, the Berserker was already on it's feet, hefting its hammer into both hands. This entire battle was becoming very confusing. Berserkers were neither intelligent enough to fight as a unit, nor strong enough to lift their cursed hammers for more than just enough time to swing it at an enemy. These Nobodies were holding their hammers up much too easily. There was something more going on here.

Letting his battle lust fade, Xaken took a few deep, calming breaths, focusing his sight on something unseen. As the rest of the room faded away, leaving behind an illusion that there was only him and his enemy, surrounded by a world of darkness, he came upon a startling sight. The Berserker was surrounded by a strong blue aura. He could see it filling the Berserker's body, giving it strength and clarity.

Straining to improve his vision, Xaken could see a single, thin blue line extending outward from the back of the Berserkers neck. He could also see two more blue lines, in the exact spots the other two had been, now beginning to fade away. The Berserker seemed to be laughing at him. Following the blue line, he saw that it connected directly to Sai'x, and Xaken suddenly understood; Sai'x was feeding his own energy into his minion, powering it with strength and knowledge. This was both impossible and confusing all at once. Since when could Sai'x do this?

The Berserker was now lumbering towards Xaken, who raised both scimitars, readying himself for battle. The black background faded away, focusing sharply into the blank, white confines of Saix's room. The Berserker lifted its hammer high above its head, and Xaken dashed forward, running between its legs and stopping behind it. He spun to slash both scimitars into the back of its legs, but the Nobody surprised him for a third time. Impossibly fast, devastatingly strong, it blew the frail body of the little Nobody with a strike that resembled a golf swing, and Xaken exploded into a world of pain and swirling sights until he connected solidly with the wall for a second time, and slumped to the ground as the body-shaking pain and aching began to fade as his vision went dark.

Sora had his hands full with Sai'x, who was feeding off of his last minion even as he gave it his own powerful energy, whipping Oblivion back and forth, barely fending off the giant hammer from crushing his body. He watched the Berserker smash its hammer into Xaken and cried out, concern and anger flooding his body. He leapt back, away from the battle with Sai'x, and ran towards Xaken as Sai'x gave chase and the Berserker raised its hammer to finish Xaken off. He watched Xaken's eyelids flutter, and used his last ounce of strength to mouth the words "Use your Drive ability" before he lost consciousness. Sora could not understand why Xaken would ask him to do it, but did not stop to wonder why. Xaken was about to die, Sai'x was gaining, and unless Sora did something soon, both of them would die here. In desperation, Sora searched deep within himself and brought his Drive ability up to the surface, letting his body become a vacuum to pull in the nearest source of power from an ally. In disbelief, Xaken's body was raised from the ground, and, like a magnet, flung itself at Sora just as the hammer missed his body and Sai'x raised his own hammer for the finishing blow. Their bodies connected; all was light.

Sai'x raised a hand to shield his eyes as the explosion of bright light filled the entire room with a sound like a massive engine firing up. The noise shook the floor; a form began to take shape in the middle of the flash; the light faded, leaving a startling figure in its wake.

It was neither Sora nor Xaken; black-streaked brown hair stuck out wildly in the shape of Sora's unique, spiky hair; one bright blue right eye was joined with one smoky gray left eye; a thin, pale face holding a familiar smirk held in check with a friendly countenance graced his face; he was tall, but incredibly slim, with a toned body covered in black and silver, curving and spiky markings; underneath a hooded and sleeveless silver trench coat that flared out from the waist and with the Nobody symbol on the back, he wore a jet-black undershirt with matching gloves, the fingers ending at the second knuckle, with slug-like metal bands over the first knuckles (for extra-painful punches), tight leather pants, and knee-high, steel-toed silver boots. In his right hand he held the Oathkeeper Keyblade; in his right, a shadow weapon that took the form of Oblivion, but not a true Keyblade; it was a fake, one of Xaken's weapons that took Oblivion's form. The new boy spoke in two voices; the first and strongest was Sora's, the second, Xaken's.

"I feel…feel like…" His voices trembled with pleasure and power, and he turned his head to look back at Sai'x with a wide grin on his face, revealing pointed fangs. "I feel like _killing_."

Sai'x's face blanched at the power and danger in the new boy's voices, taking an unconscious step back. A hissing snicker escaped the boy as he turned to the Berserker, who came on bravely (or stupidly?) with its hammer raised, aiming to smush him into the ground. As he hammer came down, and in the time it took for Sai'x to blink, the boy was gone. He appeared in midair, behind the Berserker, but he wasn't floating nor falling; he was _hovering_.

He spun his torso and swung the hand with Oathkeeper towards the Berserkers head, hitting it on the side of the head with the butt of his weapon. Instead of dropping the creature, the damned thing _flew_ across the room, heading for the wall. The boy grinned.

"We're not done yet."

He seemed to disappear again, and reappeared underneath the flying Berserker, moving along with it. He kicked upward with his right boot, launching the Nobody up into the air. He dragged his feet on the floor to slide to a stop, then launched himself straight up, spinning his body. He whipped his weapons out in deadly slashes, spinning both, even letting them leave his hands and guiding them around his entire body with mere thought. He rose up to meet the Berserker, and fell with it. When he landed on his feet, the hundreds of little pieces left of the Nobody were fading away. The weapons slowly revolved around his body, like moons in a planet's gravity field, until he took them in both hands and turned to Sai'x.

"Next."

Sai'x thought to himself "Fuck this" and turned, running away from the dangerous fusion. He barely got two steps when the new boy appeared right in front of him, barely a foot away. He cocked his head, like a child observing an interesting new sight.

"My name is Kaizen, and I am going to kill you now." Sai'x took a step back and raised his hammer in defense. Imagine his surprise when Oathkeeper, like a bolt of lightning, tore through his hammer and shattered the powerful weapon to pieces, leaving a horror-struck Sai'x holding the hilt. Kaizen tossed both weapons up, high into the air, rushing in at Sai'x, who struck out desperately with his broken weapon. Kaizen batted it away with his right hand, striking Sai'x in the stomach with his left palm. He slid over to Sai'x's right side, jabbing two fingers painfully into the Nobodies body and twisting them, making Sai'x's body instinctively try to turn away from the blow. Kaizen spun behind Sai'x, back-to-back with him, and rammed both elbows into there his kidneys should be. He spun again to Sai'x's left side, striking him in the ribs with his knuckles; finally, he slid back to Sai'x to face him, watching in amusement as the Nobody reeled from all the super-swift attacks. Kaizen drew his hands in at his side, then thrust both hands out, wrists together and fingers bent in, striking Sai'x in the chest and sending him flying back into a wall with a powerful, air-distorting burst of energy. Oathkeeper and the fake Keyblade, now spinning back down, were caught easily by Kaizen, who held them crossed in an 'X' shape over his chest, reveling in the feel of the power flowing through his body. All of this in barely three seconds. A/N: OK, I have no way to explain 'Kaizen's' sudden upsurge of power. I know that his fusion is kind of DBZ-ish, but I tried as hard as I could to not make it that way, though the voice thing is the same. You'll notice I didn't combine 'Sora' and 'Xaken', which I thought was neither original nor clever, but gave him a new name altogether. And his attack is similar to Hinata's on one of the three Naruto games for the PS2, but I couldn't remember how she did it exactly, so I put my own spin on it. Since Donald is no longer around and needed for the Final Form, I gave Sora a different kind of Final Form. You'll notice that he can still control his weapons with what seems to be a kind of telepathy, and that he can still fly, though much better than the Final Form can. I hope it was good.

Sai'x felt his back slam into the wall, and slid down to a sitting position, gasping in pain. Disarmed, aching everywhere, he knew he was going to die. But where did all of this power come from? It was insane, unfair, how the tables turned so quickly and ruthlessly. Perhaps Xaken was truly more twisted then he ever thought. Sai'x struggled to get to his feet, anticipating a blade in his stomach.

The fake Oblivion suddenly flew towards Sai'x, and embedded itself into the wall, an inch from his head. He nearly fainted; that could have killed him. And he didn't think that Kaizen aimed for him, either.

"It's fun to toy with you," said the dangerous boy, confirming Sai'x's suspicions, "But I'm done here. Now you die." He pointed Oathkeeper at Sai'x, who wondered what was coming. A ring of light formed around the Keyblade, and Sai'x, in horror, tried to open a portal and escape. Like a machine gun, bursts of light power streamed from the tip of Oathkeeper, shredding the portal, and Sai'x, to bits, blasting limbs and pieces away from his body that faded away into nothingness, tearing him apart with pain that was like fire, agony that ran through his body before it was blown away. When the shoulders, one arm, and head of Sai'x began to fall and disappear, speechless and numb, the last conscious thought he would ever have entered his mind before reality faded from reality. _Xaken did not betray us. _Xemnas_ betrayed us all…_

As Sai'x faded away completely, a bright light surrounded Kaizen, who became Sora as Xaken separated from his body and fell to the floor, breathing calmly as though asleep. Sora could tell that Xaken was already healing from the Berserker's attack, had been healing the entire time, but had not yet regained consciousness. Sora didn't know how Xaken knew what would happen when he used his Drive ability, but now was not the time to think about it. He bent down and pulled one of Xaken's arms across his shoulders, dragging him slowly to the portal that would lead back to the Organization graveyard.

After a disorienting ride through swirling color and light, he found himself standing in front of Sai'x's grave, which was now blocked off. Goofy got to his feet and hurried over to Sora.

"What happened to Xaken," he asked.

"Long story," replied Sora, "Help me get him against the wall."

"No need," said Xaken, much to Sora's surprise, who straightened up and brushed his clothes off, chuckling. "What a rush, eh? That new form of yours will be a big help against Xemnas."

Sora laughed and hugged the Nobody. "How did you know that would happen?"

"In truth…I didn't," he Xaken with a sheepish chuckle. "I didn't know if _anything_ would happen, but better than dying, right? You know this leaves Xemnas last, and-hmm?" Xaken paused, and felt around in one of his pockets. "Where did these come from? They might be for you two."

He held out a Keyblade attachment, and a small silver disk. Sora took the attachment, took off the Oblivion attachment to the Keyblade, and put the new one on. In a bright flash of light, Sora held a new Keyblade, a mighty weapon longer than he was tall, but light, white and silver, the entire thing made up of criss-crossing metal bands like Oathkeeper, but much more impressive. When Goofy took the disk, it morphed and became a mighty silver shield, with a crown symbol and spiked edges.

With a sudden rush of clarity, Sora knew what these were. "This is the Ultima Keyblade. I remember this. Goofy, you have the King's Shield! These are two of the most powerful weapons! If Donald was here…he would have gotten the Queen's Scepter A/N: Or was it Queen's Staff?."

"You mean this?" Xaken took out a small rod, and Sora nodded. "No…no need for it now, I suppose," said Xaken, tossing it away. "Too bad. That weapon needed someone like Donald to wield it. Well, we best get going, hmm?"

A/N: From this moment on, the story is going to change a lot. Partly to save time, mostly because I can't remember it. Parts will be the same, just bare with me. It'll make sense towards the end…I hope.

At that moment, there was a great shout from the doorway beyond the last markers, and without a word, Sora, Goofy and Xaken dashed up the stairs, running through the doorway into a flat platform with stairs leading up to yet another, where there stood…King Mickey, and some blonde man? There was also a tall man in a black coat. With a rush of anger, Sora recognized Ansem! And standing next to him was Kairi! He couldn't believe his eyes. To complete this odd scene, Xemnas stood away from the entire group, with a smirk on his face, while Kingdom Hearts hung in the background. The three fighters' eyes widened, and they dashed up the steps, weapons appearing in hand. Sora's first priority, in his mind, was finishing off Ansem once and for all. But as he neared, Kairi stepped in his way, hands outstretched.

"Sora, stop!" she yelled.

"Move, Kairi," Sora shouted back, "Ansem is dangerous!"

"This isn't Ansem! This is-" she started to say, but Ansem said, "Kairi, no!" Sora slid to a stop. Something was off here.

Kairi turned to Ansem. "He needs to know! Sora," she said, turning back to him, "It's…it's Riku."

Thunder seemed to pound through Sora's head, shock and disbelief draining his strength and rage. "Ansem…is Riku? That can't be…that's not Riku!"

'Ansem's' shoulders dropped, and he reached up to remove his mask. Staring into the face he hated, Sora's own face paled; behind Ansem's cold, evil eyes, he could see a flash of Riku. "Sora," he said, "Kairi's right…it's me."

Sora walked over to Riku, as if moving through a dream. "How?" was all he could say.

"When I disappeared into the darkness, it called out to me. I knew the only way I could escape, and see you, and Kairi, and our friends again, was to accept it. But…it…" he seemed unable to go on. At this point, the blonde man stepped forward, speaking with a deep voice that Sora seemed to remember, as if from years and years ago.

"Riku's body was destroyed. Ansem's evil still lurked in his heart, and to save himself, he took on Ansem's form. Darkness became his power, and life. When he escaped the darkness, he began to introduce himself as Ansem. I met Riku, and asked him to help me. But he did not want you to see him this way," he said.

"And who are you?"

"Sora," said Mickey, "This is an old friend of mine. His name is Ansem the Wise."

"Ansem…the Wise? But Xehanort was calling himself Ansem. There's another Ansem?"

"Xehanort was my apprentice," said the blonde man. "I had been researching the power of the heart, but when I discovered the Heartless, I gave up my research, and I forbade Xehanort and my other apprentices to continue it. But Xehanort would not listen. He continued my research in secret. He became angry when I discovered him, and threw him out of my laboratory. He turned himself into a Heartless, and began to use my name and research. I am the true Ansem. It is nice to meet you at last, Sora."

Sora's brain was still struggling to take it all in. Then he pointed at Kingdom Hearts. "What is that doing here?"

"We have been drawing it to us." It was Xemnas who answered. "Like a good little lapdog, you have been feeding it's power, and now, I am going to take it for myself. You will not stop me. I will regain my human heart, and the power of a god. I will make my own universe, my own worlds. None of you will stop me!"

"That is where you are wrong," said Ansem the Wise, taking from under his red cloak a strange contraption. He pointed it at Kingdom Hearts, and turned it on. Like a vacuum, it began to attempt to draw in the power of Kingdom Hearts.

"What are you doing? Look at you, Ansem the Wise. You look like a fool. Nothing can contain the power of Kingdom Hearts," laughed Xemnas, and it turned out he was right. The machine began to malfunction.

"Let go of it," yelled Mickey, but Ansem shook his head. "It is too late. I am going to die. Mickey, it was an honor to have known you these long years. Sora, it is up to you now to stop Xemnas. I know you can do it. I do not know what it going to happen. But you will be alright." Ansem the wise gave Sora a smile as Kingdom Hearts began to crumble. Hearts fell and became Shadow Heartless. Xemnas screamed in fury as the machine exploded, light shooting from all sides. Xemnas managed to flee and Xaken hid behind Sora.

When the light faded, Sora echoed Xemnas' cry. Ansem, Mickey, Riku and Kairi had been turned to stone. The place was crawling with Heartless. They converged on the statues, breaking them to pieces. Sora screamed in rage and grief, and felt, not for the first time, like just giving up. Xaken kept him standing, however, shaking him roughly.

"Sora, list-no, listen to me!" he yelled as Sora tried to pull away. "Xemnas has escaped. He can use the power left in Kingdom Hearts, and it's up to you and me to stop him. Do you want that murdering bastard to claim the rest of your friends' lives?"

His words seemed to act like a stimulant. Sora raised his head, rage clouding his eyes. He turned to Xaken and grabbed the front of his coat. Xaken grinned when Sora spoke to him.

"Then let's finish him, now _come on!_"

Heartless tried to stop them, but they either fought them away or dodged them, heading into the room where Xemnas escaped. What they saw was something so confusing, even Xaken briefly forgot his purpose, his mind nearly shattered by the logic-bending impossibility around him.

A/N: I'm not writing out that drawn-out and slightly ridiculous fight. We're skipping right to the end-game. This is where it all comes together!

Xemnas' Room

Xemnas stood above them, seemingly on solid air, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring down at them with barely disguised rage. He had already absorbed part of Kingdom Hearts' power, his coat white with jagged black streaks. Sora and Xaken glared up at him, weapons drawn.

_Now is where it all ends. Make it convincing._ Xaken could hear Xemnas' voice in his head. _Yes, Superior._

Two strange weapons of beam energy appeared in Xemnas' hands, and Sora and Xaken ran up strangely solid air to fight. Sora jumped up and aimed a straight, downward slash at Xemnas, who raised a beam-sword to block. Xaken came in with a claymore, that Xemnas blocked with ease and kicked him away, using the other to slash Sora to the ground. But Sora got right back up and ran back at him as Xemnas did.

They seemed to move as though reading each others' thoughts. Every thrust and slash, feint and double-attack, punch and kicked was coordinated and complimented by the other fighter. Yet Xemnas held his own easily, blocking and parrying, striking solid blows with ease.

Sora brought Ultima to crash down on Xemnas, while Xaken came in at the side to cleave him in half with his claymore. Xemnas smiled and spun away, forcing Xaken to block Sora's attack, which came at him. They turned so that their weapon-arms were side-by-side, and thrust at Xemnas, who blew both weapons to the side with a strong parry, and thrust in at Sora with his other beam-sword.

Xaken grabbed Sora's arm and tossed him up into the air. Upside-down, he flipped himself upright and made to slam Ultima down on Xemnas again. The Nobody raised a beam-sword to block the attack, while countering a diagonal, upward slash from Xaken's claymore by kicking him in the chest. Then he turned, grabbed Sora by the hair, and slammed him into the ground, laughing.

At the end of five more minutes of fighting, Xemnas had maybe one injury, while Sora and Xaken were much worse off. Xaken looked at Sora, who nodded. Summoning his Drive ability, the two were drawn together in a flash of light.

Kaizen stood facing Xemnas, not a wound or scratch on him, twirling Ultima with one hand, with the other hand holding the fake Oblivion, with the tip touching the ground. He stood slightly hunched, with a grin on his face, looking up at Xemnas, who raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "You should've finished them off when you had the chance. Now you fight _me_."

"Come at me, then," replied Xemnas with a smirk.

Kaizen disappeared, and reappeared behind Xemnas, facing away from him. In midair, he swung his body to the right, raising his right foot to swing it into Xemnas' head. The Nobody surprised him with incredible speed, blocking the kick with his right forearm. Kaizen slashed low and under with Ultima, which Xemnas blocked with the beam-sword in his other hand. Kaizen grinned.

"You are mine!"

Kaizen saw an opening, and threw his torso forward as if doubling over. He brought the fake Keyblade to stab it into Xemnas' stomach, but the Nobody surprised him again. He threw both hands to the right, spinning Kaizen away so that the attack failed completely. And before he could recover, Xemnas sent a foot into the small of his back, launching him away.

Rolling to a stop, Kaizen straightened up, glaring at Xemnas. "Good. You are better than I expected. Perhaps you will make this more exciting then Sai'x did."

Xemnas merely smirked, and Kaizen came at him headlong. Ultima left his hand, and he guided it with his open hand, bringing it over his head and down as the deadly weapon mimicked him, extending his range. Xemnas brought up his left beam-sword to block Ultima, and he released the other, which spun towards Xemnas' right side. But again, his attack was turned away as Xemnas blew it off to the side.

"Not as strong as you'd like to be, are you," he taunted.

"No, just exploiting an opening," said Kaizen, and he dropped down, and swung his left boot up into Xemnas' underarm. The Nobody staggered back as his weapon dropped from his numb hand, his entire right arm now useless. He cursed himself for not catching that, and Kaizen's fake Keyblade appeared back in his hand. The dangerous fusion leapt back, both weapons spinning slowly in the air.

Both weapons dropped, and Kaizen disappeared; he reappeared at Xemnas' right side, thrusting a hand up. Two fingers dug deeply into his side and hit a pressure point, making him gasp as pain flooded the area; he side-stepped behind Xemnas, planting his fingers into the spine, then curling his hand into a fist and slamming it into the same spot, hearing a pleasing 'pop'; Xemnas struck out at the kneeling fusion with his good hand once the fusion had spun to his left, but Kaizen was ready for him; he slammed his left palm into Xemnas' wrist, sliding it up his arm into the hit; he brought his right hand to his own neck, then brought it sliding down when it hit very hard into the crook of Xemnas' elbow: Xemnas felt his arm numbing already; Kaizen brought his left hand down to his waist, and threw it up for the last, finishing blow, chopping it into Xemnas' neck: The effect was instantaneous; the Nobody dropped to his knees, darkness swirling around his vision.

"Hehehe, I just realized something. If you rearrange 'Xemnas', you get 'Mansex'. Heh, now DIE!"

Ultima flew into Kaizen's hand as he readied the last blow, but Xemnas was not yet done. He forced dark power rushing through his body, and raised both arms. Kaizen slashed downward, but Xemnas brought his beam-swords up, blocking the attack. He pushed the Keyblade away, punched Kaizen in the face with his left fist, then his right, and planted his foot into Kaizen's stomach, knocking him back.

"You cannot beat me, even if you exert every bit of your pathetic power. I am The Superior Being!" boasted the Nobody.

"You want to see my full power? Have it your way," he said, gathering magical energy into his hands. He combined his three most powerful spells, Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga, focusing them into an attack so powerful, it took Xemnas' breath away, literally.

As he clenched his fists, white lightning streamed through the fingers of Kaizen's right hand, black lightning from his left. Xemnas knew these two bolts of lightning could be deadly, but nowhere near as deadly as what happened next. Kaizen slammed both of his fists together; the world exploded.

A pure beam of white and black energy, light and dark, ripped through the air, from Kaizen's outstretched hands, reaching out with its deadly power to claim Xemnas' life. In horror and desperation, he threw himself away and down, feeling it sear and freeze his back as the world turned upside-down. Brighter than a thousand suns, darker than the deepest pit of the Abyss; hotter than the greatest inferno, colder than the deepest winter chill; louder than the fire of ten cannons, the bolt of lightning sucked the air from Xemnas' lungs as it screamed past him. When Kaizen cut the power off, the world struggled to come back into focus. When the confusing jumble of sensations lifted, leaving a thick haze in the wake of tons of rubble and destruction, Kaizen peered through the fog. Did he completely obliterate Xemnas?

No, he did not.

Xemnas, getting back to his feet, knew that the fused fighter was much too dangerous as he was. Sublimating a scream of agony, he threw his arms to the sides as a torrent of darkness poured from his body, like the bullets of light that Kaizen fired at Sai'x. It barraged Kaizen, beat his body, but it was more than physical. It tore through his body, through the core of his being, to where Sora and Xaken lay, unconscious, feeding Kaizen, joined together in blissful power. They shuddered as the darkness tore through them both, separating their bodies from each other. Kaizen disappeared in a flash of light as Sora and Xaken fell away from each other. Sora sprung right back to his feet, but Xaken lay still, cursing softly. It appeared he got the worst out of that attack.

"Xemnas' attack…ripped me apart inside. I'll be fine," he said quickly as Sora's eyes opened wide. "I'll heal. But I'm going to be out of this fight from now on. It's up to you."

"He's still too strong, I can't beat him. I've tried to use the Drive ability again but it's been blocked off somehow."

"Listen to me. It takes a lot of energy and power to exert that much force. Remember Axel's attack. He died because he was weaker than Xemnas. Xemnas is alive, but he needs a rest, however quick. Now is the time where we turn it around. Are you ready?" Sora nodded. "Good. The Keyblade is strong, but not strong enough. That's why you'll use _my_ weapon."

Xaken weakly held out both of his Nobody weapons, merging them into a single weapon, a replica of the original Keyblade. "I think you can touch it now. Take it."

Sora reached out, his hand closing around solid air. At once, to his eyes, the weapon appeared to phase into existence. Xaken nodded. "Good. That's how I hoped it would go. Now, get up there and kick Xemnas' ass." Sora gave Xaken a small smile, then turned and dashed up to where Xemnas stood, recovering his power. He laughed at the Keyblader.

"You think an extra weapon will help you? Without Xaken to help you, you are nothing compared to me. Just accept your fate, and give up. You-"

"Shut up! I'll show you what our power can do!" Sora raised his Keyblade and the Nobody weapon, and slammed the hilts together with a loud 'clank!' The Nobody weapon began to blur and distort, stretching out to wrap itself over the Keyblade. Sora knew something was wrong when it shuddered in his hands. Light streamed out from the Keyblade, trying to push the darkness away. But the Hidden Keyblade was too strong for the Ultima, and like a suffocating blanket, wrapped it completely in its black folds. The entire weapon began to shrink and change. White metal became a cracked and twisted, sinister obsidian. Wicked barbs and spikes punched outward from the handguard. The crown blade at the top turned curved back like an axe, which sprouted more spikes. The Dark Keyblade pulsed, and Sora heard it speak in his mind, for the first time ever.

_Give me your body. Give me your power._

Xemnas was smirking now; in a panic, Sora tried to throw the Keyblade away, but it stuck fast to his hand, like glue. He looked back to Xaken, who had already stood up and brushed himself off. He was acting hurt, to trick Sora! The same evil darkness now poured from the hilt of this new Keyblade, creeping up his arm to his shoulder, where it spread across his chest and back, down his other arm, spreading to his waist. Already shadows leaked from his body as the wave of shadow slid down his legs and to his feet. As it crept up his neck, he saw Xaken plant a hand on his hips and look up. Tears of hurt and fear ran down his face as the darkness sunk over his eyes and turned them yellow, finally sliding up and over his hair, wrapping him fully. He appeared as if in his Anti-Form, but this was not the case. Instead of giving him power, Sora could feel his life essence draining from his body, and into the Keyblade. He pitched forward, as though struck from behind, and fell down to the floor, towards Xaken, who watched him hit the floor with a slight pang of guilt. He walked over to Sora, bending down and tugging the Dark Keyblade from his hand.

"I'm sorry about this, Sora, but you understand, right? I want to be whole again. I have a need, a desire, to regain my heart. Xemnas has promised this to me, and maybe, when this is all over, we can be together again."

Turning, Xaken strode up to where Xemnas stood waiting, and held his hand out. "That was good work, little spy. You performed excellently."

Xaken gave a low bow. "Thank you, Xemnas. Shall I take over from here?"

Xemnas shook his head. "No. As you may now know, that Keyblade has the power to steal the hearts stolen by Heartless, and feed them into Kingdom Hearts. Only the wielder will be able to receive the power, and it shall be me. Now, if you please, the Keyblade," he said, hand still out, waiting for Xaken to hand it to him.

Xaken nodded, and held out the Keyblade. But as Xemnas tried to grab it, his hand passed right through and onto Xaken's hand. He gave a snarl, looking up at Xaken. "What the hell is this?! A trick?!"

Xaken shook his head, stepping back in alarm. "No, nothing like that! But I was afraid this might happen."

"What might happen?! Spit it out, quickly!"

"You know how my weapons work, that only I can wield them. Well, me and Sora. So I wasn't sure if it would allow you to hold it. And it won't. You won't be able to take Kingdom Hearts' power with it."

Xemnas stared at the little Nobody for a long time, then sighed, calm passing over his visage. "No matter, then, no matter." He reached out and grabbed Xaken, spinning him around and pulling him close. "No matter," he said again, "It can be done differently. I will simply have to find another way to take the power. Without you!"

Xaken's eyes popped wide, but before he could move, before he could shout, dodge, or even blink, he felt a dull, pounding pain, and looked down to see Xemnas' hand sticking out of his stomach, along with shadowstuff and a lot of blood. Wait, blood? What the fuck?

He looked back at Xemnas, wanting to speak, but his voice was momentarily gone. Xemnas chuckled. "I'm sorry, Xaken. But I will be the one to take the power, and as long as you live, with that weapon, you are a danger. You and the Keyblader. Now, go join him in death, Number XIV." Xemnas withdrew his bloody hand, and with the other, pushed Xaken down to where Sora lay dying. He then turned back to Kingdom Hearts, intending to fully draw in the rest of its power and figure out a way to go from here.

Xaken hit the ground hard, next to Sora. The taller boy raised his head, yellow eyes focusing on Xaken, whose face was streaked with tears. "Sora," he said, "I'm sorry. I really am…so sorry. I was an idiot. I was too blinded by Xemnas' lies and my own selfish desires to recognize the truths before me, the first being that the fate of all Nobodies will always be to fade into nothingness. It is our lot in life, unfair it may be, but true. The second truth, is that, no matter who or what I am, I love you. I may not be capable of emotion, it may even be fake, but it feels like love to me, and for me, that is enough."

With a groan of pain, Xaken crawled the two feet between him and Sora, leaving a stain of red trailing on the ground. "Sora, I did wrong, I know. And I don't ever expect you to forgive me. I just want to help, and try to atone for my betrayal. What I want you to remember is that a heart is the most precious thing a person has. You have to guard yours. Never lose it to the darkness again, and never, ever take it for granted. Now, I'm going to pull the darkness away from you. It might kill me." Sora shook his head, but Xaken ignored him. He placed both hands on Sora's body, feeling the darkness in his rise and shift, becoming a vacuum for the darkness over Sora. A grunt of effort became a low groan that became a roar of effort as the darkness began to slide off of Sora's clothes and skin, withdrawn into Xaken's palms. When it was done, and Sora began to recover, Xaken noticed the Dark Keyblade, casting an evil aura where it lay on the floor, and he had an idea. Xemnas would not win.

He rolled over and placed his hand on the hilt, gripping it tightly as he summoned all of his strength and power into one arm. "Xemnas, you sick bastard, I'll see you in Hell!" With a burst of strength, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, and threw his arm forward, hurling the Keyblade with all of his might up to Xemnas. Warned by Xaken's shout, Xemnas tried and failed to grab the Keyblade, as it sped past him and through his hand, heading straight into the center of Kingdom Hearts.

When the Keyblade entered Kingdom Hearts, something amazing happened. Thin, black beams of energy shot out from the tip, thousands of them, assaulting every Heartless creeping its way up and inside the castle, even through the walls. When they struck, the Heartless were vanquished in splotches and patches of darkness, pulling back the stolen hearts along with them. A beam even shot out to piece Xemnas in the chest, leeching back the power he stolen from Kingdom Hearts. His scream of rage and denial could not be heard over the power surging through Kingdom Hearts as it grew back to its full strength. And once completed, something even more amazing happened, that no one, not Xemnas, Xaken, or even Ansem the Wise could ever predict or imagine.

Kingdom Hearts was folding inward. The Dark Keyblade began to suck the power of Kingdom Hearts into itself, like a vampire drawing blood. And as it did, as Kingdom Hearts collapsed, it began to cover the Keyblade itself. A horrible, inhuman screech of pain could be heard from the weapon, as it tried and failed to fight off the power of light now overtaking its form. The obsidian shaft split and became ten metal bands, which curled and snaked through each other to form a new, sharp shaft. The spiked and axe-like blade became a spiked crown, shining silver in the light of Kingdom Hearts. The spikes and barbs withdrew into the hilt, which bent outward and then rounded off smoothly into the handguards, which then morphed and became a pair of golden wings, while the hilt became smooth, slightly rounded, royal blue shot with gold. As long as the Ultima, and much more powerful, the Keyblade of Light fully took the power of Kingdom Hearts into itself, weapon and kingdom finally together, serving their true purpose at last: To form a weapon befitting a god. Spoken of in lost lore, and myth long since forgotten, the legendary blade denied Xemnas' enraged attempts to grab it, moving at last to the master its spirit had waited for, for centuries. Sora wrapped his fingers gently and reverently around the hilt of the Keyblade, eyes wide with awe.

Overhead, Xemnas' expression was of hate and shock and explosive rage. Holding his energy sword out, he flipped in midair and dropped at an alarming rate at Sora. "_I WILL KILL YOU!"_ he screamed, and he looked frightening, mad. Sora threw the Keyblade up to meet him, watching the mighty weapon spin end of end, its gleaming surface flashing brightly with each spin. The Xemnas threw his swords out to block, but the Keyblade knocked both aside in a parody of someone parrying (or did it do it by itself?), and smashed into the Nobody, passing through his body and leaving behind excruciating pain.

Sora crouched low and leapt straight up, at Xemnas, noticing a momentary advantage while Xemnas reeled from the pain. He swung his lower half up, feeling a booted foot connect with Xemnas' stomach. He threw his left arm up, punching Xemnas in the cheek, and threw his right arm up, grabbing the back of Xemnas' head and pulling himself up, climbing over the Nobodies' side (and kneeing him in the ribs in the process), climbing onto his back. He didn't have to look as the Keyblade spun back down to meet him, catching it easily by the hilt and swinging it down to chop into Xemnas' head.

The fountain-like spray of blood and brain matter that he expected didn't come; Xemnas was too powerful, it merely passed through his head, leaving behind a cleaving pain. Xemnas spun in midair, caught Sora by the shirt, and broke his nose by ramming his forehead into it. He swung a sword into Sora's ribcage, then threw him down at the ground, watching him hit the floor heavily.

Sora felt his nose give way under Xemnas' forehead, crimson blood spattering down his mouth and chin and on Xemnas' face, feeling pain bloom like a flower in his own face. Thrown, he hit the ground with enough force to drive the air from his lungs, but stubbornly, he was immediately back on his feet and then he felt a tug on his shorts. Xaken pointed to the Keyblade, then to Xemnas, mimicking a shooting motion. Sora understood immediately and aimed the Keyblade of Light at Xemnas, and felt Xaken's hand cover his own. Xaken fed his own power into the Keyblade to mix with Sora, which was converted by the weapon into light.

"Sora," Xaken yelled over the rush of energy, blood spilling from his mouth and his hair whipped around by the rush of energy, "This time with you has been the best of my life. Before I die, I just want to say it again. I love you, Sora, and I always will. You…make me…feel…real…"

The beam of divine energy streamed from the tip as Xaken's hand slid from Sora's and his body fell to the ground, the light fading from his eyes. The growing pillar of light ripped through Xemnas' body, from which streamed beams of bright energy and tendrils of void-like darkness. His scream of pain could barely be heard over the roar of the power of the Keyblade before he faded completely into nothingness.

Sora lowered the Keyblade and sighed, glad that the whole damned thing was finally over with. But then his eyes popped wide as he remembered Xaken! He knelt down next to the Nobody, but he knew already that Xaken was gone. He had chosen the last words he would ever say to express his true feelings to Sora. Tears threatened to blur the teen hero's eyes, but something in his head went off. Something was wrong.

Nobodies always faded away in shadows after death. And they certainly didn't bleed either. But Xaken's body was firm and solid, and blood was still pooling on the ground around his body. Sora tried not to look at that part, as he felt it would make him sick. Intestines were starting to poke through. But he knew there was still something important that had to happen, and Xaken was a part of it. That's when he heard, for the second time, the Keyblade whisper to him in his mind, in a soft, gentle voice. And then he knew what was coming.

As he raised the Keyblade of Light, something large, red and shining began to emerge from the tip, with the specter of a human body around it. He wasn't sure what needed to be done, but he made a guess and decided to see if it would work. He lowered the Keyblade down towards Xaken, heart and specter following, and as he touched the tip to Xaken's chest, the heart sunk down into the body as the specter surrounded him like a faint aura, and suddenly flashed in a bright cocoon of light, which Sora had to shield his eyes from.

When the light faded, the pool of blood was gone, and so was Xaken. A new boy had taken his place. He was just as small, but with broader shoulders, more muscle tone, but with that same hourglass shape. His hair was short, spiking out in all directions, flame-red. His eyelids were half over, revealing deep pools of dark green, the silver-framed glasses framing his face, with the same silver piercings Xaken had. He wore a short red vest over a black undershirt, with tight black pants and the knee-high, steel-toed silver boots Kaizen wore. With a jolt, Sora realized that Kaizen was also gone forever.

Sora felt absolutely nothing towards this new boy, who he knew was Kane, the person Xaken had been before losing his heart. He had forgiven Xaken for what he did, knew that it had been a part of the Nobody that drove him to do it, his nature, which he could not blame him for. Xemnas was also to blame. But the loss of his friends had hollowed Sora out, filled with grief and shame, shame that he did not do more to save them. Sora knew that he would now be alone.

Vaguely, he remembered arriving in The World That Never Was in the Gummi Ship that Merlin had given them. He reached down and gently scooped Kane into his arms, turning to the bright portal that would, he knew, lead him out of this room. He now found himself in the Organization graveyard, and walked out of the door at the bottom, heading back through the way they had come. No enemies appeared to stop them. He didn't see any Nobodies or Heartless. It was as if they had seemed to disappear, but Sora had a suspicion of the true reason. The Keyblade had been the thing that drew them to him. This new Keyblade radiated power. The Heartless and Nobodies were afraid of it. They would not appear to him anymore. It was his job now to hunt them down.

He walked out of the Organization's castle, and through the dark alleyways, still meeting no resistance. When he found the Gummi Ship, he walked in and set Kane gently in a chair in the back, taking the pilot's seat. He set the Ship on a course for Radiant Garden.

Long after the ship landed, Kane awoke, raising his hands to his face. _What happened? Where've I been? And where am I now? I feel like I've been gone, for a long, long time._ Sitting up, he found himself in some kind of weird contraption. He saw a folded piece of paper fall to the floor. He bent over to pick it up, and unfolded it, reading aloud.

"This letter is for Kane. My name is Sora. You won't find me here, I'll be far away by the time you wake up. But there is something I need to tell you, something really important. I only hope you'll believe me, and to do as I ask. Though we don't know each other, we have a common friend, and it was from him that this idea came to me.

In these worlds we have, darkness lurks in the hearts of people. This darkness is a dangerous thing. It can twist men and women, growing stronger, and turning them into strange and deadly monsters called 'Heartless', with no distinctive form or shape. These Heartless have one thing in mind: To steal as many hearts as they can. And if you let them touch the darkness in your heart, you will become one of them.

There are other Heartless. People with strong hearts can also become Heartless. They can also keep their human form. These are the more dangerous Heartless. They have the same goal, able to think, and plan. They look just like they used to, which disguises them. One thing can identify them: A complete lack of emotion and morals.

And when a Heartless is created, the leave behind an empty husk, deformed creatures called Nobodies, or No Bodies. They have no hearts either, but the goal is the same. They are usually controlled by their stronger kind. Just as a strong-hearted person can become a Heartless with their human bodies, so can they leave behind human-like Nobodies. These Nobodies are different, in that they will not look the same. Their will be very subtle, or very obvious changes to their appearances, maybe hair color or style, skin, body size and build. They are also sentient.

There is a reason I tell you this. A group of Nobodies called Organization XIII tried to steal the hearts of many to regain their own. Two succeeded, the other twelve died. I say twelve, because there was one Nobody that was kept a secret, a special Nobody. One Nobody was Roxas, my Nobody who joined with me. The other was Xaken. He was yours. I helped put him back (If you'll notice, Roxas is Sora with an 'X', and Xaken is Kane with an 'X'. Rearranging the letters and adding an 'X' was their way to show their brotherhood).

Xaken said this to me, 'A heart is the most precious thing a person has. You must guard it carefully. Never lose it to the darkness, and never, ever take it for granted'. The reason I tell you all of this is for that thing I must ask you to do.

You are in a town called Radiant Garden. I have friends there. Merlin, Squall Leonhart, Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, and Cid. Look for them. If you don't believe me, ask them about Heartless and Nobodies. Xaken was a great fighter. I believe you might be, too. So, look for my friends. Ask them to train you. We need more people to fight these enemies.

Perhaps one day we will meet up, and we can fight together. I can tell you more about Xaken. But for now, I have work to do, and if you want to fight the Heartless, Nobodies, and whatever else may come, you will need to hone your skills. I look forward to meeting you, Kane. And if Xaken is still alive in you, he will know how sorry I am for all that happened, and how happy I am his wish came true. –Sora"

When Kane finished reading, his eyes were the size of golf balls. He didn't know why, but the names 'Sora' and 'Xaken' were very familiar. He stood up and walked out onto the streets of Radiant Garden, intending to pay these people a visit. If it was all true, he would indeed be glad to help out, if he could. And somewhere in Kane, a small part of him, the part Xaken came from, smiled. He was finally whole.

Hundreds of miles away, Sora stood alone, as he knew he had to be, atop a strange, purple and gold train, that came from a place he didn't know, heading for a destination he couldn't remember. He didn't care. All he could think of was that he was now bound to the Keyblade until death. This new Keyblade, with the power to remove darkness from the worlds. He could not do it in his lifetime. And many others would take up the duty after he was gone. But he would do his best to live up to what was now expected of him. And he knew that, somewhere in the future, he would meet Kane. And he knew his heart would heal with time, was already healing. The pain was still there, too. But as he looked out at the beauty of a vast, sparkling lake, blue shot with gold in the fading sun, reflecting the deep purple of the sky above, he smiled. His friends were now in a better place, and it was all he could do to hope that when he met his end, and would set out for what awaited him in the afterlife, he would see them again.

He was finding his peace again.

Somewhere over Twilight Town

"Ael? Kane's disappeared. I can't find him anywhere." The soft, flat voice was nearly lost to the howling winds. A short figure, with shoulder-length blue hair covering half his face, and a slim body stood on what could only be solid air. He wore a sleeveless, hooded black and red shirt, and baggy black pants with red shoes. On the chest of his shirt was a black and red heart, the bottom dropping into three barbs. He looked to the one beside him, staring at him with a visible, deep red eye.

The man, Ael, was taller then his companion, with waist-length red hair, green eyes, and a lithe figure. He wore a dark red dress coat, a black top hat, too-tight red pants, and high, black boots with red heels. He looked down at the smaller and smirked. He had the same symbol on his hat, and his voice sounded slightly like his words were slurring.

"Of course you can't. I already know what happened."

"You do? What, then?"

"Kane has regained his heart by joining with his Nobody, Xaken."

Ienzo's eyes widened. "But then…_we_ could do the same thing, couldn't we?"

"No…I felt the destruction of my own Nobody, so the others' are likely gone too. However," he continued, despite Ienzo's squeak of fear, "There might be another way. All we have to do is find the Keyblader. There may just yet be a glimmer of hope yet for the Dark Heart Brothers. Ienzo, let's go. We have a Keyblader and an ex-Brother to find."

Both men disappeared silently in portals of darkness, and somewhere in the universe, the Keyblade pulsed at the same time Kane's heart began to pound.

--

A/N: And this signals the end of Hidden Nobody. This was not the first ending. I wrote one out, but I lost the original. I think this one is much better, however. The other was too rushed. I had time to think this out. So, Hidden Nobody: You Make Me Feel Real is finally complete. I left a hanger there, in case I ever feel the need to continue my version of the KH universe. Cause, if they were revealed and I didn't hear of it, I can't be the only one who's wondered what happened to the Heartless of the Org. Nobodies. One thing you can expect from me in the future, though, is a small side-story about Hidden Nobody, separate from this one, telling how and why Kane lost his heart, and his introduction into Org. 13. So, that's all for this tale. Rate, review, tell me what you think. ArktheMushroom


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